State-owned oil major Saudi Aramco is considering a plan that will see the firm retender its Ras Tanura refinery clean fuels and aromatics project in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

MEED reported in November that Aramco was in discussions with Japan’s JGC Corporation and South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction regarding the two technical packages for the scheme, as well as in sole discussions with JGC for the offsites and utilities package.

However, sources indicate Aramco will now retender the scheme in mid-2014 and make an award in December 2014. The construction phase is expected to last 42 months. The initial budget of the project was nearly $3bn, but it is now expected to rise to about $4bn.

The three packages that will be retendered are:

• Naphtha and aromatics processing facilities
• Paraxylene production facilities
• Offsite and utilities

The scope of works will include carrying out EPC services for the inside and outside battery limits, as well as a rehabilitation of the refinery to ensure it meets environmental regulations. An aromatics cracker will also be added that will allow for a far greater diversity of products to be manufactured at the plant.

The construction phase is set to last 42 months at the Ras Tanura scheme. Start-up is expected for mid-2017.

The US’ Jacobs Engineering is carrying out the feed and the original scope amounted to a total of about 400,000 man-hours. This figure has since at least doubled.

The Ras Tanura refinery is fully owned by Aramco and is the largest oil facility in Saudi Arabia, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels a day (b/d). The company is currently upgrading its domestic refining capacity to lower the sulphur content of its downstream output and diversify the amount of refined products it manufactures.

Studies are also ongoing that would involve additional petrochemicals capacity being added close to the Ras Tanura refinery complex.

JGC Corporation declined to comment when contacted by MEED, while Aramco was not available for comment.