Known as the green diesel project, the scheme calls for the construction of a 37,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) hydrocracker and a 42,000-b/d sulphur hydrocracker unit and revamping of the existing gas-oil hydrotreater facility. The project has a planned construction period of 34 months and is estimated to cost $250 million-350 million.

The selection of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor is also approaching. The bidders for the 12-month contract are Mustang Engineering and US-based Fluor Corporation, WorleyParsons and Paris-based Technip. A tender is due to be issued by August to provide the licence for the proposed project.

The project is the phase 2 development of the overall scheme to produce additional volumes of low-sulphur gas-oil. The Italian office of Technip has carried out a feasibility study for the new facilities.