Foster Wheeler wins Saudi FEED contract

A year-long project for initial engineering work for a major refinery and petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia has been awarded to Foster Wheeler Energy.

The FEED (front-end engineering design) contract was awarded by a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, for a complex at Rabigh, on the Red Sea coast.

The complex is planned to be one of the largest ever constructed at one time, says Foster Wheeler. Saudi Aramco's existing topping refinery at the site will serve as the base platform for the complex, which will produce 2.2million tpa of olefins, along with large volumes of petrol and other refined products.

The FEED contract, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, also includes the development of capital and operating cost estimates, and the preparation of bid packages for further parts of the project.

Previous experience was a key factor in awarding the contract, says Isam A Al-Bayat, vice-president for new business development at Saudi Aramco. 'We selected Foster Wheeler after a rigorous review process of competitive bids because of their in-depth petrochemical experience and the quality of their past work for Saudi Aramco, particularly in producing high-quality FEEDS on time, as they did for our Haradh and Qatif projects.'

For Foster Wheeler, then-md for global sales marketing and strategic planning, Steve Davies, said the project 'reflects our competitive market position, the quality of our team, and our proven capacity and ability to manage complex, world-scale projects.'

Since making this announcement, Davies has been promoted to chairman and chief executive of Foster Wheeler Energy, succeeding Ian Bill, who is to retire in September after 34 years with the company.