State petroleum giant Saudi Aramco has issued a new tender for two engineering, procurement and construction packages (EPC) to upgrade its Ras Tanura refinery, having put bidding on hold early last year, as the collapse in crude prices since mid-2014 tightened the screw on spending plans.
Contractors have been asked to submit new proposals for the clean fuels project in May, according to Reuters. However, the agency noted that at least three rounds of bidding for the Ras Tanura upgrade have been conducted already without any EPC awards. The project is expected to cost $2bn. Aramco awarded front end and engineering design (FEED) for the Ras Tanura clean fuels upgrade to US firm Jacobs Engineering in 2011, under the General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) initiative, which promotes Saudization. Jacobs worked on the FEED with local firms Zamil and Turbag Consulting Engineers. (CONTINUED - 615 WORDS)
