The Satorp JV of Saudi Aramco and France’s Total has awarded US firm McDermott’s Lummus Technology unit an engineering contract for a 1.5mn t/y mixed feed cracker to be integrated with the 440,000 b/d Satorp refinery at Jubail on the Saudi Gulf coast. McDermott says contract scope includes licenses, basic engineering and supply of proprietary equipment for its olefins, refinery off-gas recovery, pyrolisis gasoline hydrotreating and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) technologies.
Aramco and Total are developing the $5bn Amiral project at the Satorp site, which involves integrating the cracker and an 800,000 t/y polyethylene plant with the refinery for start-up in 2024. The partners also envisage third party chemicals producers signing up for a further $4bn of petrochemicals capacity to use feedstock from the cracker and refinery. So far the UK’s Ineos and Korea’s Daelim have signed contracts to build their own plants alongside Satorp, while there is sufficient feedstock for further petchems plants (MEES, 7 June). (CONTINUED - 161 WORDS)