Foster Wheeler AG announced that its Madrid-headquartered subsidiary Foster Wheeler Iberia, S.A.U., part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has been awarded a contract by YPF, S.A. to provide the basic design package for the new fractionation unit and gas plant for the new delayed coking unit at La Plata Refinery in Argentina. The basic design package for the delayed coker, based on Foster Wheeler’s leading SYDECSM delayed coking technology, has been completed by the company’s Houston-headquartered operation.

The contract value was not disclosed. The project will be included in Foster Wheeler’s fourth-quarter 2008 bookings.

The design for the fractionation unit and gas plant will be integrated with the new two-drum delayed coker, which will replace the existing coker at the refinery. The new coker will be designed to process 185 cubic meters per hour (27,925 barrels per stream day) of feedstock. The basic design package for the fractionation section and gas plant is expected to be completed by the end of the third-quarter of 2009.

“This award reflects the long-standing and successful working relationship that has existed between YPF and Foster Wheeler Iberia for many years, and YPF’s confidence in our delayed coking and revamp expertise,” said Jesús Cadenas, chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler Iberia, S.A.U.

Foster Wheeler's SYDECSM process is a thermal conversion process used by refiners worldwide to upgrade heavy residue feed and process it into high-value transport fuels. The SYDECSM process is designed to achieve maximum clean liquid yields and minimum fuel coke yields. Foster Wheeler is a market leader in delayed coking and has supplied its delayed coking process technology worldwide for more than 80 new cokers and has worked on more than 70 delayed coker revamps.