Ineos Oligomers, a division of Ineos AG, Rolle, Switzerland, has let a contract to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., to design and build a linear alpha olefin (LAO) unit at Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA’s Chocolate Bayou petrochemical complex in Alvin, Tex.
Jacobs will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for the 420,000-tonne/year unit based on Ineos Oligomers’ proprietary and differentiated LAO technology, the service provider said.
Scheduled for startup in November 2018, the LAO unit comes as part of Ineos’ plan to help meet rising demand for LAO in the US Gulf Coast (USGC) and abroad, Jacobs said.
A value of the contract was not disclosed.
The contract award follows Ineos’ announcement in May that it had taken final investment decision on the Chocolate Bayou LAO unit, which alongside the company’s existing LAO units in Joffre, Alta., and Feluy, Belgium, will contribute to an aggressive expansion of its international LAO business (OGJ Online, May 17, 2016).
The LAO unit at Ineos’ Chocolate Bayou site—which already houses two ethylene crackers and provides ready access to the USGC ethylene pipeline network—also will supply growing USGC polyethylene capacity, as well as provide feedstock to enable the company’s long-term polyalphaolefin capacity growth to support demand for high-performance synthetic lubricants.
Ineos has yet to reveal how much it will spend to complete the Chocolate Bayou project.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].