Foster Wheeler Ltd. announced that two of its subsidiaries, Foster Wheeler USA Corporation and Process Consultants, Inc., part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) and project management consultancy (PMC) contract by Ecopetrol S.A. for the Barrancabermeja Refinery Upgrade Project in Colombia.

Foster Wheeler will include the FEED award, approximately 30 percent of the total contract value, in its fourth-quarter 2008 bookings. The full PMC scope will not be booked until the project is approved to proceed into the engineering, procurement and construction phase.

The project will increase refining capacity from 250,000 barrels per stream day (BPSD) to 300,000 BPSD, add heavy crude processing capability, and provide a processing configuration to meet the projected 2013 Colombian clean fuels product specifications. The scope includes the following new units: a crude unit, delayed coker, hydrocracker unit, coker naphtha hydrotreating unit, hydrogen unit, sour water strippers, amine regeneration unit, and sulfur recovery unit, plus associated utilities and offsite units. The project will also include revamps to the diesel hydrotreater, gasoline hydrotreater and dismantling of two existing atmospheric and vacuum distillation units. In addition, the contract includes the procurement of long-lead items.

"Foster Wheeler is pleased to be working with Ecopetrol on this major upgrade," said Troy Roder, chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler USA Corporation. "This award demonstrates Ecopetrol's confidence in the quality of our team, our in-depth refinery expertise, and our ability to execute large, complex projects. We look forward to building an excellent working relationship with our client's project team."

"Foster Wheeler has developed an innovative project execution strategy to expand our refining productivity in line with our strategic objectives," said Jose J. Pinto, the client's Refining and Petrochemical Project Manager.