Saudi Aramco is preparing to release 11 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages for the planned $7bn Jizan refinery project in the south of Saudi Arabia.

Contractors are currently being prequalified for the project and the 11 packages on the Jizan scheme will be offered to fully registered companies based in the kingdom. Five of those 11 will also be offered to local or international firms, which means some of the work can be carried out overseas. 

All contracts will be offered on a lump-sum turnkey basis. The US’ KBR is carrying out the front-end engineering and design (feed), which is expected to be completed shortly.

“There are plenty of technical packages available at Jizan,” says a contracting source based in Saudi Arabia. “The location is very remote, however. This will offer challenges to every company wanting to work on the project, because in almost every case their Saudi Arabian office is located hundreds of kilometres away in the Eastern Province.”

The available packages will include:

• Aromatics
• Crude unit
• Hydrocracker
• Two tank farms
• Utilities and Offsites

MEED reported in February that tenders are set to be released in April for Jizan with submissions in June.

Contractors prequalifying for Jizan include:

• Daelim Industrial (South Korea)
• Chiyoda (Japan)
• GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• JGC Corporation (Japan)
• Petrofac (UK)
• Petrol Steel (local/Singapore)
• Saipem (Italy)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• SK Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Technip (France)
• Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)

The scope of works for the Jizan scheme will include the construction of a 400,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) hydroskimming refinery, with an associated marine terminal.

Due to the distance between the oil fields and Jizan, crude and the subsequent refined products will not be transferred by pipeline, but will enter and leave exclusively through the marine terminal.