Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem) has awarded South Korea’s eTEC an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to carry out debottlenecking operations at one of its affiliate plants at Jubail in the Eastern Province.

The International Diol Company (IDC) plant in Jubail produces 75,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of  butanediol. As part of the contract, worth $105m, eTEC will debottleneck as well as improve the efficiency and reliability of the facility.

The contract will take 17-18 months and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2014.