Fluor Corp said that it had been awarded an estimated $1 billion contract from Saudi International Petrochemical Co Ltd (Sipchem), to help it build a major petrochemicals plant in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Under the deal, awarded by Sipchem in the first quarter, Fluor will provide engineering, procurement, construction management and pre-commissioning services for an acetyls complex in the industrial city of Jubail, the company said in an statement.
Fluor will built facilities for the production of acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer, a high-end specialty plastic, as well utilities that will serve the complex, according to the statement.
The project is due to be completed in December 2008, Fluor said.
Saudi stock market-listed Sipchem already produces one million tonnes per year (tpy) of methanol and 75,000 tpy of butanediol through two affiliate companies, also located in Jubail, according to the company’s website.
Sipchem is also in the process of selecting technology providers, offtakers and equity partners for an estimated $8 billion project to build a large-scale olefins complex at Jubail, the company’s chief executive Ahmed Al Ohali said.
A decision will be made “within months,” Al Ohali said, without providing further details, according to sources.
The complex, known as phase three, will have an ethane/propane cracker at its core, which will provide feedstock for derivatives such as polyethylene and polypropylene, used to make plastics.
Gas feedstock for the cracker has been secured from Saudi Aramco, Al Ohali added.
Project completion is targeted for 2012, he said.
Cheap gas has made Arabian Gulf countries an attractive destination for investments in petrochemical industries, which are booming on the back of high global demand, especially from fast-growing markets in Asia.