With startup in 2025, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp’s (SABIC) Crude Oil to Chemicals (COTC) complex is on track to become the largest of its kind in the world
The project is expected to become a major contributor to Saudi Vision 2030, enabling a new era of industrial diversification, job creation and technology development in the kingdom.
The complex is expected to process 400,000 bpd of Arabian light crude oil, which will produce approximately nine million tonnes of chemicals and nine million tonnes of fuels per year. Also notable, it is projected to achieve a direct conversion rate from crude oil to chemicals of up to 50 per cent, which is unprecedented globally.
Saudi Aramco and SABIC, who are partnering on the giga-project, awarded a contract to KBR, a global leader in project management and engineering services, to develop a part of the COTC complex.
KBR will provide the front-end engineering and design for the downstream petrochemicals and chemicals component within the COTC master complex. The scope includes engineering studies, infrastructure planning and development for both of the polymer and glycol units, along with the aromatics complex, the COTC master plot plan and offsite utilities.
The KBR project management contract is the second that Saudi Aramco and SABIC have awarded for the COTC project. Wood, also a leading project management and engineering firm, was granted the first contract to provide engineering and design for the refining components, mixed feed steam cracker, on-site utilities, interface and site integration, and selection of technology providers.
The KBR leadership members expressed their appreciation to Saudi Aramco and SABIC for the partnership and further acknowledged the pivotal role KBR will have in the COTC project.
KBR was also a major partner in the development of the Sadara Chemical Project. Through this contract, KBR focuses on expanding its footprints in Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East region.
