GS will lead the consortium as main EPC contractor while the local Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) will work on the detailed design for the utilities portion and Petrojet, also local, will carry out the construction. Canada's SNC Lavalin and Paris-based Technip were the other bidders for the contract, whose award took longer than expected as offers exceeded the client's original budget.

Egyptian LAB (ELAB) is the project company handling the plant. The project manager is the US' Fluor Corporation. The US' UOP is the technology licence provider, with Enppi having carried out the front-end engineering and design (FEED).

The scheme is one of eight projects included in the first phase of ECHEM's petrochemicals masterplan, which aims to invest more than $10,000 million into the sector by 2022.