Sabic project one step closer

SAUDI Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and affiliates of ExxonMobil Chemical announced that work on their proposed elastomers joint venture project has moved fully into the front-end engineering and design (Feed) stage.

It has selected Jubail Industrial City as the site for the new manufacturing units following a comprehensive evaluation of a number of variables, including integration opportunities with their existing petrochemical joint venture at Kemya, to determine the best location for producing these specialty products.

As previously announced, plans would establish a domestic supply of more than 400,000 tonnes per year of rubber, thermoplastic specialty polymers (EPDM/TPE, TPO, butyl, SBR/PBR) and carbon black to serve emerging local and international markets in Asia and the Middle East.

Terex offer on Genie range

TEREX Aerial Work Platforms (AWP), a business segment of Terex Corporation, now offers Terex Xtend, extended service protection plans, on its complete line of self-propelled Genie booms, scissors and vertical masts.

All customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia now have the opportunity to purchase 12 to 24 months of additional coverage. “Terex Xtend adds an additional level of security to Genie equipment investments and provides customers confidence that their equipment is protected for years to come,” said Phil Graysmark, vice president of sales, EMEAR (Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia).

The extended service protection plan is available on self-propelled access products currently covered by the Genie standard limited warranty. Currently, this warranty provides two years of electrical and hydraulic components coverage and five years of structural -coverage.

The extended service protection plan allows customers to purchase a predefined amount of additional electrical and hydraulic component coverage to enhance their period of coverage. The extended protection period begins when the first standard warranty phase expires. For example, if a customer purchases a 24-month extension, the customer’s total coverage would be four years of electrical and hydraulic components coverage and five years of structural coverage.

Saudi sewage plant deal signed

HALLA Energy and Environment, a South Korean industrial plant builder, will expand a sewage treatment plant in Saudi Arabia in a SR318.8 million ($85 million) deal with Marafiq. Located in the Yanbu industrial complex north of Jeddah, the expansion is to increase the plant’s treatment capacity of 27,000 cu m a day to 47,000 cu m, and is due to be completed for the power and water utility company by January 2013.

Energy City work fast tracked

INFRASTRUCTURE works at Energy City Qatar (ECQ) are being implemented at a fast pace and expected to be completed in June.

The city’s first building will come into service in early 2012. First tenants will move in at the end of this year, with the project to be completed in full in 2012.

The total cost of the project will range between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. ECQ, covering an area of 1.2 sq km on Qatar’s east coast, will include offices and residential units for regional and international energy companies in addition to related business facilities.

Energy City is being developed by Qatari Diar, the property wing of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The project will house the headquarters for state-run Qatar Petroleum and other national energy and petrochemical companies.

Bauer project nominated for award

AN INNOVATIVE reed-bed water treatment plant at Nimr in Oman built by Bauer Water has been shortlisted for the 2011 Global Water Awards under the ‘Industrial Water Project of the Year’ category. The awards will be revealed by Global Water Intelligence’s (GWI) Global Water Summit this month in Berlin, Germany.

The 600-hectare artificial wetland is treating 45,000 cu m a day of oil-tainted runoff from the nearby Nimr oilfield, achieving a level of purification of 99.5 per cent, and has the capability to double that capacity. The facility separates oil and water before removing dissolved solids through the reeds and then running the outflow into evaporation ponds.

The project was implemented by local subsidiary Bauer Nimr under a 20-year build-own-operate contract. As a biological solution, the reed bed not only protects the environment, but leads to a huge reduction in power consumption by the oilfield, as it no longer needs to pump the oil/water mix long distances for treatment or disposal.

Jacobs to help expand Jubail plant

JACOBS Engineering Group will provide technical and project management services for expanding an epichlorohydrin plant and construction of a new one at Jubail in Saudi Arabia.

Under an award signed with Jubail Chemical Industrial Company (Jana), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nama Chemicals, Jacobs will provide technical and project management services for both inside battery limits (ISBL) and outside battery limits (OSBL).

The ISBL services involve debottlenecking of the existing epichlorohydrin plant to achieve increased capacity, and the OSBL services cover all utilities and the tankage area. Jacobs’ scope also includes cost estimates preparation and the project management support for Jana’s new epichlorohydrin plant, to be built at the same site in Jubail.