UAE aromatics chemicals project put on hold

21 July 2016

Abu Dhabi considers incorporating plant into Ruwais refinery scheme

The project to build a major petrochemicals plant in the west of Abu Dhabi has been put on hold as owners consider options for the future of the scheme, according to sources familiar with the project.

Contractors submitted engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bids for the $1bn-plus Tacaamol aromatics plant in 2015, but its development as a stand-alone project now appears to be in doubt.

The project owner is Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Company (Chemaweyaat), which is majority owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) with interests held by Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

The project calls for a plant with the capacity to produce 1.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of paraxylene and 500,000 t/y of benzene, utilising naphtha feedstock produced at the nearby refinery operated by Adnoc subsidiary Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer).

“There is no more standalone aromatics project,” an Abu Dhabi-based industry source told MEED. “The owners are considering incorporating the aromatics capacity into a different project at the Ruwais refinery.”

Takreer is currently planning a project to increase the capacity to produce unleaded gasoline and low sulphur gas oil at Ruwais, and is thought to have asked companies to submit bids for the front-end engineering and design (feed) study. If the project moves ahead, EPC contracts could be tendered in 2017.

The Tacaamol project has hit many hurdles since its original conception when Chemaweyaat was formed in 2008. The aromatics plant was planned as part of a larger $11bn complex including polyolefins, polystyrene, polycarbonate plants and several other plants.

The long-delayed scheme first looked to be back on track in 2012, when Chemaweyaat appointed US-based Foster Wheeler (now Amec Foster Wheeler) as the project management consultant for the feed phase. In September 2013, MEED revealed that the feed work for the project had been awarded to US engineering group CH2M Hill.

In December 2013, Bangkok-listed Indorama Ventures announced it had taken a 49 per cent stake in a new joint venture to development the project, but exited the scheme during 2014.

Chemaweyaat received commercial EPC bids in October 2015 from several international companies for the aromatics plant and offsites and utilities packages.

Abu Dhabi announced earlier this month that Ipic – the project’s majority owner – will merge with another sovereign wealth fund Mudabala Development Company.

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