Técnicas Reunidas wins FEED contract for Adnoc and Cepsa’s joint LAB project

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and its project partner Compañía Española de Petróleos (Cepsa) have announced the awarding of the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to Técnicas Reunidas for the development of a world-scale Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant in the Ruwais Derivatives Park. The LAB project is the first of the derivative units to be advanced under Adnoc’s AED 165 billion ($45 billion) Ruwais downstream investment program.
The LAB project will be jointly operated by Adnoc and Cepsa. When it comes onstream, the new plant will produce 225,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of Normal Paraffins (NP) and 150,000 m.t./yr of LAB.
LAB is the most common raw material in the manufacture of biodegradable household and industrial detergents. It is also used in house cleaners, fabric softeners and soap bars. The main feedstock for the LAB complex will be straight-run Kerosene and other streams that are byproducts from Adnoc Refining’s operations in Ruwais.
Miguel Paradinas, Deputy CEO of Técnicas Reunidas, said: “This award supports our strategy to deliver value-added services in projects involving technologies in line with TR know-how and experience. It also reinforces our relationship with two priority TR clients, Adnoc and Cepsa, and consolidates our position in a strategic country where we have been working continuously for the past ten years.”
José Manuel Martínez, Cepsa´s Head of Chemicals, said: “The award of the FEED contract is a significant milestone in Cepsa’s relationship with Adnoc, with whom we are working on a number of projects in the upstream, downstream and petrochemical sectors. As an Abu Dhabi-owned company, we are keen to support Adnoc’s downstream expansion plans, in Ruwais, and the diversification of the UAE economy. At the same time, Abu Dhabi’s strategic location will enable us to strengthen our presence in the key markets for LAB products, in the Middle East, India and South-East Asia.”
The LAB FEED contract is the third Adnoc contract to Técnicas Reunidas this year. In September, a consortium of Técnicas Reunidas and UAE-based Target Engineering Construction was awarded an EPC Contract for the second phase of Adnoc LNG’s Integrated Gas Development Expansion Project. And, in November, it secured an AED 5.1 billion ($1.4 billion) Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to upgrade and expand Adnoc’s Bu Hasa field, which will increase the field’s crude oil production capacity to 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).