Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company (Luberef) has set a submission deadline of June 30 for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for its $1bn expansion at Yanbu on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

Contractors are now preparing bids for the scheme after tenders were released in April, a month ahead of schedule.

“There is a lot of tender activity in the kingdom at the moment and many contractors will be also working on submissions for the Jizan refinery,” says a contracting source based in Saudi Arabia. “Bids are due for Luberef at the end of June, but no-one expects a decision until the late third quarter.”

The prequalified contractors bidding for the Luberef contract include:

• Chiyoda Corporation/CTCI (Japan/Taiwan)
• Daelim Industrial (South Korea)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• JGC Corporation (Japan)
• Petrofac (UK)
• Saipem (Italy)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)

The project is being tendered in as one lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) contract and will cover the construction of a lube hydrocracker, as well as offsites and utilities and other supporting services such as a tank farm and additional storage. The company has not disclosed the exact capacity of the expansion.

The new hydrocracker at the Yanbu refinery will produce high quality type-three oil, used in the engines of luxury cars. Type-three oil is not produced in the Gulf. Other work includes increasing the capacity of the vacuum distillation unit and adding storage tanks, as well as an upgrade of electrical facilities.

Luberef is a 70:30 joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the local Jadwa Investment.