Samsung Engineering said the company has won a $1.6 billion contract for two refinery plants from Satorp, a joint venture that includes Saudi Aramco and Total of France.

Samsung Engineering was awarded two main plants out of the five process packages from the 'Jubail Export Refinery Complex' project which will be constructed in Al-Jubail area of the Kingdom.

Samsung Engineering president and CEO Yeon-Joo Jung said the company will provide the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of this package on a lump-sum turn key basis, with completion scheduled for August 2012.

The $700 million Aromatics plant will produce 700,000 MTPA of paraxylene and 140,000 MTPA of benzene, he explained.

The package consists of the delayed coker unit with a contract value of approximately $900M, which was obtained through a strategic collaboration between Samsung Engineering and Japanese EPC company Chiyoda.

By June 2013, the unit is expected to produce 100,000 BPSD of light hydrocarbon such as LPG and naptha through a thermal cracking process of heavy hydrocarbon.

Including this award, Samsung Engineering is currently performing a total of $2 billion projects with Aramco, which allows efficient usage of material, equipment, manpower and project resources.

'Based on our outstanding execution of the last 5 projects in Saudi Arabia during 2008, we are confirmed as a qualified EPC partner of these 2 core process packages for the Jubail Refinery Complex project,' Jung stated.

'We will also strengthen our Middle East market share by enhancing technical ability and glocalization through the utilization of the In-Kingdom EPC center,' he noted.

Saudi Aramco has plans for the construction of large-scale plants such as Yanbu and Ras-Tanura, to continue to produce high-value added export refining products with its abundant natural resources.

Samsung Engineering expects continuous order flow from Aramco by strengthening its long-term partnership, delivering quality and cost competitiveness as well as optimizing local business project execution.

The company has plans for greater business expansion in the Middle East & North Africa region by using its extended expertise and capabilities.-TradeArabia News Service