Jacobs Engineering has been awarded a contract to provide project management consulting (PMC) services to Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining (Luberef) regarding the expansion of its Yanbu refinery
The contract value was not disclosed but officials said the overall project cost was estimated to be approximately US$1bn.
Hasan Jamaan Alzahrani, president and CEO of Luberef, said, "This expansion project will add value to the kingdom's economy including employment and provide high quality lubricants to the markets we serve.
"In addition, it is part of Luberef's overall strategy to provide high quality base oil with different product slates of GR-I, GR-II, and GR-III to strengthen Luberef's position as a leading supplier," he added.
Jacobs revealed that its Netherlands office would be managing the overall project in close collaboration with its offices in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Under the terms of the agreement, the company will provide PMC services for both inside battery limits (ISBL) and outside battery limits (OSBL).
The ISBL services include a new lube oil unit, a sulphur complex, a hydrogen manufacturing unit and an expansion of the propane de-asphalting unit. The OSBL services involve utilities, tanks and infrastructure.
The Yanbu refinery expansion is expected to increase base oil production to meet future demands for high quality GR-II and GR-III base oils and increase the GR-I Bright stock to almost double the current production.
It would also produce higher value by-products such as naphtha, diesel and kerosene and fulfil Saudi Arabia's requirements for producing drilling fluid, which is currently being imported.
