ADNOC Refining’s Crude Oil Flexibility Project
ADNOC announced in March 2018 the signing of a major contract between ADNOC Refining, and Samsung Engineering. The contract – the award of a $3.1bn project to introduce crude oil processing flexibility at the ADNOC-owned Ruwais oil refinery – mark another significant step forward as ADNOC accelerates its downstream strategy. Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022, this project will enable ADNOC’s Ruwais refinery west complex to process up to 420,000bpd of Upper Zakum crude, or similar crude types from the market, allowing ADNOC to extract greater value from its crude resources by liberating Murban crude, which commands a higher price on global oil markets, to be utilised for export sales.
Bahrain Petroleum Company Modernisation Project
TechnipFMC announced in December 2017 that, jointly with Samsung Engineering and Tecnicas Reunidas, it has been awarded a $4.2bn contract from Bahrain Petroleum Company. The project is located on Bahrain’s Eastern coast and entails the expansion of the capacity of the existing Sitra oil refinery from 267,000 up to 360,000 barrels per day, improve energy efficiency, valorisation of the heavy part of the crude oil barrel, enhancing products slate and meeting environmental compliance. The project will be executed on EPCC lump sum turnkey basis and is slated for completion in 2022. It includes the following units: residue hydrocracking unit, hydrocracker unit, hydro desulphurisation unit, crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit, saturated gas plant, hydrogen production unit, hydrogen recovery unit, sulphur recovery unit, tail gas treatment unit, sour water stripper unit, amine recovery unit, bulk acid gas removal unit, sulphur solidification unit and sulphur handling facilities.
Duqm Refinery Project for Utilities and Offsites
In August 2017, Petrofac, in a 50/50 joint venture with Samsung Engineering, has received notification of intent to award a contract worth approximately $2bn with Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company (DRPIC) in the southern part of Oman. Work on the 47-month project will commence shortly. Petrofac’s and Samsung’s scope of work includes engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, training and start-up operations for all the utilities and offsites at Duqm. A strategic investment for the Sultanate of Oman, and forming the cornerstone of the Duqm Special Economic Zone, the development will occupy more than 2,000 acres. When completed, it will have a refining capacity of approximately 230,000 barrels of oil per day. DRPIC is a joint venture between the state-owned Oman Oil Company and Kuwait Petroleum International, the international subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).
Farabi Petrochemicals Company’s Yanbu LAB Project
Farabi Petrochemicals Company is building a complex in Yanbu to expand its production of biodegradable detergents. The construction of the complex is expected to be completed in 2020. When completed, the complex will produce 120,000 metric tonnes per year of linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and 246,000 metric tonnes per year of normal paraffins, in addition to de-aromatised specialty oils, asphalt, sulfonates, mining chemicals, process oils and lubes. As feedstock, the complex will use diesel from the Saudi Aramco refinery and kerosene from the Saudi Aramco ExxonMobil refinery in Yanbu.
Saudi Aramco’s Jazan Refinery and Terminal Project
The completion of Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery and terminal project will herald the beginning of a historic economic era for both the region and Saudi Arabia. Commissioning activities for the complex will commence by mid-2018, and full operation will be achieved by 2019. Saudi Aramco’s projects in Jazan are designed to enable an industrial springboard to achieve the vision of a diversified economy under the framework of the nation’s strategic Vision 2030 economic roadmap. The 106-square-kilometre Jazan Economic City will host the refinery complex as its anchor tenant and is viewed as pivotal to delivering the much-needed economic transformation in the Jazan region and, at the same time, attract foreign investment. The complex will be totally self-sufficient and provide power to locally owned manufacturing and service companies. In the project, a wide range of complex engineering and construction packages will be integrated to reach the processing capacity of more than 400,000 bpd of crude oil – providing fuel for domestic and international customers.
Petro Rabigh Phase II Project
Recently, Petro Rabigh announced the on-spec production at its aromatics and ethylene propylene rubber units in the Rabigh Phase II Project, the last two units to become operational in Phase II. The expanded facilities will add 12 new products to the Saudi market, none of which have been produced in the country before. The project involved a major expansion of existing facilities and integration with newly built facilities, which will use petrochemical feedstock to produce high-value products, such as specialty chemicals. It also expanded the production capacity of the ethane cracker to process an additional 30mn standard cubic feet of gas per day of ethane and add a new naphtha reformer/aromatics complex processing more than 2.7mn tonnes per annum (mtpa) of naphtha. In addition to producing 1.3 mtpa of paraxylene, Phase II will manufacture a diverse slate of other petrochemical products, such as ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, thermo plastic olefin, methyl methacrylate, and poly methyl methacrylate.
Ma’aden’s Umm Wu’al Phosphate Project
Fluor Corporation announced in August 2017 that the Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Company’s (MWSPC) Umm Wu’al phosphate project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has started production of ammonia, merchant-grade acid and fertiliser. Fluor provided the overall programme management services for this $8bn mega project, in addition to engineering, procurement and operations and readiness services for various scopes. As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, this project will have a long-lasting impact on the region, as it diversifies the country’s economy and creates local job opportunities for citizens. Production has begun on diammonium phosphate fertiliser, merchant-grade acid and ammonia. With a peak site workforce of 28,000 from more than 50 nationalities, Fluor implemented its safety programmes, including its Life Critical programme, to support the project.
Orpic’s Liwa Plastics Industries Complex Project
The $6.4bn Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) development is a transformational project that will, upon commissioning in 2020, transform Orpic’s product mix and business model, double the company’s profits, create business opportunities, generate significant employment opportunities and support the development of a downstream plastics industry in Oman. In addition, the project is expected to increase the production of plastic products by more than one million tonnes, which will increase the company’s total production of plastics to 1.5 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene.
Sadara Chemical Complex Project
In September 2017, Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced the commercial start-up of its toluene di isocyanate (TDI) facility. The production of commercial quantities of TDI marked the beginning of the full commercial operation of all facilities in the Sadara complex. The Sadara project – a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the Dow Chemical Company in Jubail Industrial City in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia – is the largest integrated chemicals complex in the world to be built in one phase. Sadara has a production capacity of more than three million tonnes of various plastics and chemicals annually. The Sadara project contributes to the development of the manufacturing and the technology industries in Saudi Arabia, and will have a great impact on the economy, directly and indirectly.
Saudi Aramco – SABIC Crude-oil-to-chemicals Project
In a significant step towards the successful implementation of Saudi Aramco and SABIC’s fully integrated, strategic crude-oil-to-chemicals (COTC) complex in Saudi Arabia, in March 2018, the partners awarded Wood a contract for project management and front-end engineering design (FEED). The award of the contract coincided with the visit of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to the United Kingdom. The award of this project management contract follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2017 between Saudi Aramco and SABIC to assist in bringing the mega-project to its next stage of development. The scope of the contract primarily includes the finalisation of the project scope, selection of technology providers, updating project economics and performing the FEED.
