Saudi Aramco and Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) have let a contract to John Wood Group PLC, Aberdeen, for development of their plan to build a fully integrated crude oil-to-chemicals (COTC) complex in Saudi Arabia (OGJ Online, June 28, 2016).
As part of the contract, Wood’s offices in Reading, UK, and Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, will provide both preliminary front-end engineering and design and FEED as well as project management services during the engineering, procurement, and construction phases to support development of the complex, the service provider said.
While it did not disclose a value of the agreement, Wood said its work under the contract is scheduled to continue through startup of the complex, which is slated for 2025.
The contract award follows Aramco and SABIC’s November 2017 signing of a memorandum of understanding to execute FEED for the proposed COTC complex, which they expect will process 400,000 b/d of crude oil to produce about 9 million tonnes/year of chemicals and base oils (OGJ Online, Nov. 28, 2017).
The complex would use a COTC process derived from improved refining technology that mixes configurations with proved conversion technologies to create an integrated petrochemical complex capable of maximizing chemical yield, transforming and recycling byproducts, driving efficiencies of scale and resource optimization, and diversifying Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical feedstock mix, the companies said upon announcing the project in 2016.
The companies previously said they plan to reach a final investment decision on the complex upon completing FEED.
If approved, the COTC project—which would fulfill Saudi Vision 2030 goals for the downstream sector and will mark the first time the two largest economic entities in Saudi Arabia jointly enter into a strategic partnership—would create an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs (OGJ Online, June 1, 2016).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
