Quebec-based engineer SNC-Lavalin has won two petrochemical projects in the Gulf in the past week, one to design and build a PVC plant in Oman, and the other an Advanced Topping Refinery in the UAE. Â
The PVC plant, which will be built about 150km southeast of the capital of Muscat, was announced last week.
SNC-Lavalin will begin the planning and design work now, with a view to beginning construction next year.
The project is expected to have a capital value of about $1.5bn, and will be executed with the help of Omani contractors.
When complete, SNC-Lavalin will support its operations and maintenance.
Christian Brown, president of the company’s oil and gas arm, called the contract "a major strategic win" that would help grow the firm’s business in the region.
The plant will produce around a quarter of a million tonnes of PVC a year, most of which is to be exported to Asia. It will also make around 140,000 tonnes a year of caustic soda.
Yesterday (12 June), the company announced the signing of an agreement with Florexx International Investments for the design and build of an advanced topping plant in Dubai – a refinery that uses distillation columns to separate crude oil into products such as naphtha, diesel, kerosene and petrol.
When complete, the plant is expected to process some 100,000 barrel of crude a day. The UAE’s third such plant, it will be about a quarter the size of the Ruwais refinery (pictured), and half the size of the other, at Jebel Ali.
Image: The UAE’s largest refinery is presently Ruwais in Aby Dhabi (M&I)
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