Foster Wheeler AG announced that its Global Engineering and Construction Group, through a collaborative agreement with Honeywell's UOP, was recently awarded a contract by Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Co. (Orpic). UOP/Foster Wheeler will provide a basic engineering design package for a solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit at the Sohar Refinery in Oman.

The SDA unit is a major part of the Sohar Refinery Expansion Project which will significantly increase the refinery's production of petroleum products such as LPG, naphtha, Jet A-1 fuel, gasoline, diesel and propylene. The SDA unit will be designed to process 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum of vacuum residue of Oman Export Blend crude to produce Deasphalted Oil (DAO) and asphalt for road bitumen production.

"We are very pleased that Orpic has selected UOP/Foster Wheeler technology for this strategically important refinery project in the Middle East," said Umberto della Sala, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Foster Wheeler AG. "This latest award constitutes a strong vote of confidence in the added value we deliver in heavy oil processing and continues our successful record in licensing large SDA Units."

The SDA Unit is expected to be on stream in 2015. The terms of the contract were not disclosed. The contract value was included in the company's second-quarter bookings for 2011.

To see the Sohar Refinery site