Known as the gasoline and aromatics expansion (GAE), the scheme will involve the production of 600,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of paraxylene through naphtha reforming, with an option to produce 335,000-775,000 t/y of benzene and 3.8 million-4.85 million t/y of gasoline. The scheme is estimated to cost $750 million-$1,000 million.

'It [the project] is at an initial stage and the final product slate and plant capacity is likely to change after the FEED [front-end engineering and design] and marketing studies are complete,' says an industry source. Takreer is due to issue a tender by early March for the FEED package. The project will take about 40 months to build.

The US' Jacobs Engineering has prepared the project's economic model; Foster Wheeler has carried out the initial feasibility study. Houston-based Purvin & Gertz is carrying out a marketing study.