MIDDLE EAST INDUSTRIAL BRIEFS

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources

PETROLEUM REFINING

Fluor in Running for Kuwait Refineries Upgrade

Kuwait National Petroleum Company is reported to be considering awarding Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) its $15 billion Mina Abdullah and Mina Al Ahmadi refinery upgrade projects. The companies that bid for the $14 billion Al Zour refinery project are on the prequalifying list for the upgrade project. Fluor is the project manager at Al Zour. In the upgrade project, the combined capacities of both refineries will increase to 800,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) from the current 600,000 BBL/d.

Jizan Project Tender Out in September

A tender for bids to construct and operate the Jizan refinery in southern Saudi Arabia will be issued in September. In 2007, the oil ministry said that eight local Saudi companies and 43 international companies had been pre-qualified to tender. Foreign companies must submit bids in partnership with a local company. The original list has undergone further selection. State-owned Saudi Aramco is one of the pre-qualified companies. The 250,000-400,000 BBL/d project has suffered from delays and cost escalations.

Invensys in Training Venture for Egyptian Refinery Engineers

A joint venture that will contribute key skills in the modernization drive of the Egyptian petroleum industry has been formed between Invensys Process Systems (Plano, Texas), a subsidiary of Invensys plc (LON:ISYS) (London), the Egyptian company Engineering for Petroleum & Process Industries and Abu Dhabi's Gasco. The joint venture will establish Egypt's first Industrial Automation Center of Excellence and will train hundreds of Egyptian engineers to play a role in increasing refinery utilization, maximizing productivity and minimizing maintenance costs. Egyptian engineers will be trained as part of a knowledge transfer program to develop local technical competence. The center will be capable of handling the largest automation projects which will be exported within the region and North Africa.

Libya Invests in Egyptian Refinery and Gas Pipeline

A 250,000-BBL/d refinery and a natural gas pipeline will be built by Libya in Egypt. The refinery will be constructed west of Alexandria and will be financed by Libya and will have a Libyan crude oil feed. The gas pipeline will run from the Libyan city of Tobruk to Alexandria. Currently, Libya has investments of $2 billion in Egypt and is planning to raise this total to $10 billion by 2010. Included in these investments are power, agriculture and real estate projects.

METALS AND MINERALS

Two Steel Projects for Saudi Arabia

A deal between Saudi Arabian Fertilizers (Safco) and Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) for a 1.7 million-ton-per-year steel sheet plant. Safco and Hadeed will build the plant at Jubail. The completion date is scheduled for 2012. Hadeed will also build a 500,000-ton-per-year plant to produce additional steel bars, bringing its total annual capacity to 2.2 million tons.

POWER

Cairo's Power Supply Secured

A 700-megawatt (MW) power unit addition to the Cairo West power station station will be linked to the Egyptian national grid in 2010 and will give the increased electrical supply security to Cairo. Cairo Electricity Production Company, a subsidiary of Egypt Electricity Holding Company, operates the power project and has placed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TOY:7011) for the generation equipment. Cairo's power consumption represents 37% of the national total. By 2010, 11 new projects will be in operation to feed an additional 1,500 MW to the national grid.

OIL & GAS PRODUCTION

Snamprogetti Wins Kuwait Gas Booster Project

Kuwait has commenced gas production from a number of fields in the north of the country and has awarded a $676 million contract to Italy's Snamprogetti to build a gas booster station in the southeast of the country to produce 500 million cubic feet per day to be boosted to 1 billion cubic feet per day by 2015. The station will be fed with gas from five gathering stations. The gas will feed the needs of power generation and rapidly developing industry in the country. The booster station is scheduled for completion in 2011.

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