Sector News

Air Products has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco to build and operate the world’s largest industrial gas complex, at Jazan, Saudi Arabia. The plant will supply 20,000 m.t./day of oxygen and 55,000 m.t./day of nitrogen to Aramco’s Jazan refinery, currently under construction, for 20 years. 

 

The total investment necessary to build the facility is about $2.1 billion, says Seifi Ghasemi, chairman and CEO of Air Products. Roughly 80% will be debt financed, Ghasemi says. Air Products’ total equity commitment will be about $100 million. The start-up is expected in late 2018 or early 2019. The plants will be designed and built by Air Products. The complex will include six air separation unit trains, Air Products says. Once built, the facility will operate as a 25-75 joint venture between Air Products and the Arabian Company for Water and Power Development (Riyadh), who will hold the majority.

 

“We consider it an honor and a privilege to use our proprietary technology to design and build the world’s largest industrial gas complex for the largest company in the world, Saudi Aramco,” Ghasemi says. 

 

By Deepti Ramesh

 

Source: Chemical Week