Algeria's Sonatrach inks contracts for petrochemical projects with Spanish, French companies

20-Dec-16

Algeria's national hydrocarbons company Sonatrach has signed separate contracts with a Spanish company and a French company for two petrochemical projects. The first contract was signed with Spain's Engineering Tecnicas Reunidas, to conduct basic engineering studies for a project of gas oil hydrocracking and naphtha surpluses processing, produced from its Skikda refinery in northeastern Algeria. The project, costing 5.59 mln euros for basic engineering studies and 9.91 mln euros and 88.32 mln dinars (about US$800,000) for Project Management Consultancy (PMC) costs, is aimed at strengthening Sonatrach's capacities in the production of refined oil products to meet the current and future needs of the national market. To be built in 34 months, the plants for gas oil hydrocracking and naphtha surpluses catalytic reforming are designed for a capacity of annual gas oil processing of 4.6 mln tons and a surplus of naphtha of 4 mln tons, making an annual production of 3.2 mln tons of diesel and 3.5 mln tons of fuel.

The second contract, a 5.17 mln euros financing framework over 18 months was clinched by the French company, Amec Foster Wheeler, for the elaboration of feed-type basic studies for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and the assistance of Sonatrach in the analyses of the technical bids, for selecting a contract to build the MTBE complex. The MTBE project involves the annual processing of 75,000 tons of methanol and 150,000 tons butane, allowing an annual production of 200,000 tons of MTBE destined to increase by 80 to 95% the octane number of petrol produced by Sonatrach refineries.