Saudi Arabia's $16 Bn Ras Tanura Integrated Project Awaits Proposals.

Saudi Aramco is evaluating requalification applications submitted on Nov. 8 for the joint front-end engineering and design (FEED), project/construction management services contract on the integrated $16 bn Ras Tanura refinery upgrade and petrochemicals complex. At least six international companies are understood to have submitted applications. They include Foster Wheeler, Fluor Corp, Bechtel, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) and Jacobs Engineering of the US and WorleyParsons of Australia. Saudi Aramco is still holding exclusive negotiations with Dow Chemical Co. of the US to act as the foreign partner.

A request for proposals (RFPs) will be issued in late 2006, with bids to be submitted by Jan. 27. Award of the EPC contract is expected in mid-March.

The project, to upgrade the giant Ras Tanura oil refinery and have petrochemicals complex built next to the plant, began with expressions of interest (EoIs) submitted on Oct. 11. The main elements of the project are: (1) a 1.2m t/y ethane/naphtha steam cracker, fed with 70 MCF/day of ethane supplied from the Ju'aymah gas plant and 40,000 b/d of naphtha from the 550,000 b/d refinery; (2) a fluid catalytic converter (FCC), consisting of an 80,000 b/d vacuum gas oil hydrotreater, a 70,000 b/d high olefins FCC and associated sulphur and amine plants; (3) an aromatics complex fed with 70,000 b/d of reformate and pyrolysis gasoline (pygas) to produce benzene, toluene and paraxylene to feed downstream derivative units; (4) a chlor alkali facility producing about 640,000 t/y of chlorine to feed downstream process units; and (5) downstream process units comprising 28 different world-scale units, including a speciality mix of purefied terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) resins, toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) or methyl diphenyl di-isocyanate (MDI), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins and acrylonitrile (ACN).

In addition, the project will require substantial offsites and utilities work, feedstock pipelines, an ethane pipeline from the Ju'aymah system, a new import/export jetty and a materials handling facility. Start-up of the integrated venture is scheduled for 2010.