Worley Gains Market Ground After Acquisition of Jacobs' Energy, Chemicals Businesses

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) leader Worley Limited (North Sydney, Australia) is picking up work in some of the busiest corners of North America, following this year's acquisition of Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated's (NYSE:JEC) (Dallas, Texas) Energy, Chemicals and Resources division. The midstream business is rushing to answer demand along the U.S. Gulf Coast, while the Canadian business is keeping occupied in a challenging oil and gas market. Industrial Info is tracking about $230 billion in active projects worldwide involving Worley and/or Jacobs.

CORRECTION: This article previously attributed all projects mentioned to Jacobs Engineering Group. It has been updated to reflect the Worley acquisitions.

The market for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) has slowed alongside recent trends in global economic growth, but is expected to resume its expansion in coming years. Bayport Polymers LLC, a joint venture between Total S.A. (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France) and Novealis Holdings LLC, began construction earlier this year on its $1 billion Borstar polyethylene unit addition at its facility in Pasadena, Texas, with Worley providing design-engineering and front-end engineering and design (FEED) services. Worley picked up the project from the Jacobs acquisition.

The 1.38 billion-pound-per-year unit, which is set to be completed in late 2021, would more than double the site's existing capacity for HDPE and low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and offer a wider range of products to its North American customers. Novealis Holdings LLC is itself a joint venture between Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria) and Nova Chemicals Incorporated (Calgary, Alberta). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Worley's other Jacobs-based work along the booming Texas Gulf Coast includes INVISTA Incorporated's (Houston, Texas) $250 million process retrofit in the adiponitrile (ADN) area of its nylon plant in Victoria. INVISTA, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Incorporated (Wichita, Kansas), expects the retrofit will boost energy efficiency and update manufacturing technology at the facility. Worley is performing EPC services. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Worley also is at work on Jacobs' major midstream and downstream projects across the U.S. HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC) (Dallas, Texas) has Worley providing EPC services at its proposed, estimated $40 million diesel hydrofiner expansion at its refinery in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The overhaul would expand the 16,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) unit to 20,000 BBL/d. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Worley Picks Up Projects in Canada's Oil Sands
Worley also acquired the oil and gas assets of Jacobs Canada Limited, which has a strong presence in Western Canada's oil and gas market. Despite a slowing Canadian fossil-fuel market, Suncor Energy Incorporated (NYSE:SU) (Calgary, Alberta) is optimistic about its Meadow Creek East oil-production facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, in the Athabasca oil sands region, for which Worley is now providing EPC services. Meadow Creek East is to be built in three phases and process 80,000 BBL/d of bitumen, using steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, upon the completion of the third phase, which is set for late 2025. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the first, second and third phases.

In the nearer term, Worley is serving as engineer on Imperial Oil Limited's (TSX:IMO) (Calgary) estimated $2 billion Aspen Bitumen Processing Plant near Fort McMurray, which is designed to process 75,000 BBL/d with SAGD technology. The project includes drilling five well pads, each with between seven and 21 well pairs. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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