SD/Sabic win contract for mega EO/EG plant

02 September 2005
A joint venture of Saudi Basic Industries Company (Sabic)and US-based Scientific Designhas been awarded a contract to license its proprietary technology for the what will be the world's largest ethylene oxide/ ethylene glycol (EO/EG) plant at the Jubail olefins complex. The client is the local Project Management & Development Company (PMD).

Under the terms of the contract, the joint venture will licence its technology for the plant, which will have nameplate EO capacity of 700,000 tonnes a year (t/y) and actual capacity of up to 840,000 t/y, making it by far the largest unit of its type. Invitations to bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract are expected by the end of the year.

The technology contract is the second to be awarded on the SR 13,000 million ($3,500 million) complex. In May, PMD signed a licensing agreement with Europe's Basell for the provision of technology for the 250,000-t/y low-density polyethylene and 600,000-t/y polypropylene units. Bidding with the ethylene club members is under way for the 1.3-million-t/y ethane cracker, which will provide ethylene feedstock for the EO/EG unit.

PMD has yet to conclude a joint venture agreement with Houston-based Westlake Chemical Corporation, but negotiations are ongoing. A joint venture agreement is not expected to be signed until the autumn. Debt and equity arrangements for the complex are also still to be concluded. Arab Banking Corporation (ABC)is the financial adviser.

The US' Fluor Corporationis the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor and project management consultant (PMC).

www.meed.com/petrochemicals

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