Ten engineering giants have been responsible for mopping up over US$30 billion of downstream project awards from the Middle East in the last 15 months.
These companies have managed to stand out in a competitive and congested market place for the sheer scale and consistency of EPC project awards.
The Refining & Petrochemicals Middle East editorial team have ranked the elite list from aggregated contract award values from January 2010 through to April 2011 based on best-fit contracts for the downstream sector in the Middle East.
1 Samsung Engineering
The South Korean contractor has swept up local contracts in a tornado fashion over the past 15 months. Contracts include the development of refining and petrochemical complexes across the region.
Samsung Engineering’s reputation in the Middle East has improved over the past decade after securing and successfully executing several large-scale projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
The company has recently won a US$2.76 bn project from Saudi Aramco for the development of Shaybah NGL plant project (pictures below).
This project is a significant win for Samsung as it is the fourth Saudi Aramco project received since 2007. In addition, Samsung Engineering is involved in multibillion dollar contracts including the construction of 350 000t/y polypropylene plant of Saudi Kayan.
The company has also won over $7 billion worth of contracts from the ADNOC Group of Companies.
Recent projects
– Saudi Organometallic Chemicals Company (SOCC).
– Shaybah NGL project (4 packages).
2 Foster Wheeler
The company’s global engineering and construction group designs and constructs leading-edge processing facilities for downstream operators.
Recent activities in the region include a contract with Saudi Aramco for the provision of services associated with Saudi Aramco’s General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) initiative for a duration of five years with options available for extensions.
The company has been very active in the recent few months, with new business from Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, winning several multibillion dollar contracts. The most recent success story of the Swiss contractor was a PMC deal for a petrochemical project in Egypt and US$350m contract for the expansion of Gulf Farabi’s LAB plant in KSA.
Recent projects
– FEED contract for the Nassiriya refinery in Iraq.
– PMC services for Gulf Farabi’s new Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant in KSA.
– PMC contract for new polyethylene plant in Egypt
3 KBR
The Houston based contractor is one of the most prominent players in the local downstream sector and has been awarded many contracts for key projects in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.
KBR recently netted several major contract packages in Saudi Arabia related to the construction of the Jazan Refinery. KBR will conduct the FEED study, as well as the project management services for the project.
In addition, last year the company won contracts related to a phenol project for Petro Rabigh 2, where it is doing the basic engineering and the EPC for an aniline plant at the Saudi Aramco Dow Chemical Project.
Recent projects
– FEED and PMS studies for Jazan refinery.
– Implement technology for Luberef refinery.
4 Jacobs Engineering
Jacobs Engineering has recently received a major contract from Huntsman and Zamil Company to provide FEED services for a Morpholine and Diglycolamine Agent (DGA) in Jubail.
The last year has also seen the company pick up a contract award from Jubail Chemical Industrial Company “JANA” to provide technical and project management services for its epichlorohydrin plant expansion and a new epichlorohydrin plant at Jubail, along with a key FEED contract for the Luberef company, and GES+ contract from Aramco.
Recent projects
– Technical and PMS contracts for Epichlorohydrin plant of Nama Chemicals.
– FEED study for for Luberef refinery in KSA.
5 Technip
Technip has won many engineering contracts in petrochemical, refining and fertiliser sectors in the Middle East. The company has been operating in the region since 1970.
Technip has several operating centres across the region. Thanks to the upsurge of EPC market activity in the region, Technip will be upgrading its Abu Dhabi hub to a fully fledged EPC operating centre this year.
Technip is involved several outstanding projects in the region, including SATORP integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia, as well as a refinery rehabilitation project in Algeria.
Recent projects
– Rehabilitation work for Algiers refinery (est. contract value: $920m)
– PMC, basic and detailed engineering, construction supervision for the Pearl GTL project in Qatar.
6 Daelim
Daelim is South Korea’s fifth-largest EPC contractor. The company has been involved in some of the region’s most complex downstream projects, most notably in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Recent contract awards include a deal with Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company to conduct the LDPE Project in early 2010, and a US$500m contract from Saudi Maaden to provide services for the Arabian chlor vinyl project.
Recent projects
– Two packages related to the construction of the Yanbu Export refinery. ($4.9bn)
– A contract to build a gas plant for KNPC’s LPG Train-4 Project. ($900m)
7 Hyundai Engineering
After a stint in bankruptcy and seven years in a debt rehabilitation programme, the company has bounced back and emerged as one of South Korea’s largest construction and civil engineering companies.
The engineering division of Hyundai has received many contracts across the downstream landscape in the Middle East, including a refinery project in the UAE related to the construction of an LBO plant for Takreer, as well as another US$190m contract to construct the first polysilicon plant in the region. Hyundai Engineering began 2011 well, netting a $935m contract for the Borouge 3 project.
Recent projects
– Offsite facilities for Borouge 3 project. ($935m)
– Building a crosslinkable polyethylene unit (XLPE) for Borouge. (US$169m)
8 Uhde
The German contractor has deployed its high-tech solutions in industrial plant construction, and its wide range of services across the regional downstream scene prominently.
Recently the company won a competitve tender to design and implementation contract from Gulf Farabi to expand its linear alkyl benzene plant in Saudi Arabia, along with another contract from Octal Petrochemical.
Recent projects
– EPC contract for the construction of PET plant for Octal Petrochemicals in Oman.
– Design and Implementation of LAB expansion project of Gulf Farabi in
Saudi Arabia.
9 Marie Tecnimont
A strong regional pedigree of success has allowed Marie Tecnimont to build on its growing reputation as an EPC partner of choice. The company was involved in the Borouge 2 expansion project in 2010.
The company is currently engaged in several large projects as part of a consortium of contractors, such as the Borouge 2 expansion.
The Italian EPC contractor is currently involved in Abu Dhabi’s Fertil project through the licensing of urea production technology, and the construction of a polypropylene plant for Borouge 3 and a gas project in Kuwait for Kuwait National Petroleum Company.
Major projects
– Two PE and two PP plants for Borouge 3. (US$1.25bn consortium contract with Samsung Engineering)
– Acid Gas Removal Plant for KNPC. ($400m)
10 CB&I
The company is one of the major five providers of technology for ethylene crackers.
The Chicago based contractor has scooped many projects in the region in 2010 and 2011 including a US$40million contract from the Oman Refineries and Petrochemical Company for the front end engineering and design (FEED) and project management services for the Sohar refinery expansion project in the Sultanate of Oman. The company is also involved in many other projects across the region, mainly in the UAE.
Major projects
– FEED study for Sohar refinery. (US$40m)
– Propylene storage facility for Takreer.
– Storage tanks for Musafah terminal ($40m).
