A joint venture of US-based global energy infrastructure services giant CB&I and CTCI Corporation, Taiwan, has received a notice of intention of award valued at approximately $2.8 billion from Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) to provide engineering, procurement and construction for cracker Package 1, which includes the steam cracker and associated utilities for the Liwa Plastics Industrial Complex Project in Sohar.
The scope of work includes EPC for a grassroots 880-ktpa ethylene plant, pygas unit and MTBE unit, as well as all the related off-sites and utilities. CB&I’s scope of work also includes the construction of cryogenic and atmospheric storage tanks and pipe spool fabrication.
The $5.2 billion Liwa Plastics venture will transform Oman’s presence in the international petrochemicals marketplace as well as support the development of a downstream plastics industry in the Sultanate. It will also create new business opportunities, and generate significant employment opportunities.
Last month, Orpic had named Tecnimont, JV GS Engineering & Construction Corp / Mitsui & Co Ltd and Punj Loyd as the preferred bidders for three of four packages for its Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project.
The three packages include the Natural Gas Extraction Unit in Fahud, the NGL pipeline between Fahud and Sohar and the three plastics plants in Sohar. Orpic said it intends to sign the final Engineering Procurement & Construction “EPC” contracts after finalizing the agreements and receiving Final Investment Decision on the project but before year-end.
Eleven strong bidders submitted financial tenders for the 3 considered packages and after a thorough evaluation process the preferred bidders were presented to Orpic’s Major Tender Board. The Tender Board studied the detailed bids and subsequently approved the names of preferred bidders. Detailed discussions are being held with the preferred bidders in order to finalize the contracts.
As previously announced, the cracker will employ CB&I’s latest, proven ethylene technology, including highly selective SRT cracking heaters, and its innovative recovery section design, featuring low-pressure separation and mixed refrigeration.
“CB&I is pleased to have been selected for this significant project following the successful completion of the front end engineering and design of the Liwa Plastics Project for Orpic,” said Philip K Asherman, CB&I’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This new award builds upon the successful relationship between Orpic and CB&I and is a testament of our customer’s confidence in our experience and world-class project execution capabilities.”
CB&I is an end-to-end energy infrastructure-focused company with 125 years of experience and the expertise of approximately 54,000 employees.
CTCI Corporation, founded in 1979 with headquarters in Taipei, is the largest engineering, procurement and construction firm in Taiwan. The service portfolio of CTCI includes engineering design, procurement, fabrication, construction, supervision, project management, test and commissioning.
Following commissioning of the overall project, plastics production is forecast to have increased by more than 1m tonnes; giving Orpic a total of 1.4m tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene production. The operation will be one of the best integrated refinery and petrochemical facility combinations in the world and will be able to achieve the maximum value add for Oman’s hydrocarbon molecule.”
All relevant environmental permits have been obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, and all technical and commercial terms & conditions for supply of utilities, such as electricity and cool water, have been finalized with Majees and Majan. Gas Supply Agreements, are being finalized with the Ministry of Finance and Oil and Gas.