ExxonMobil, SABIC let contract for USGC petchem project

A joint venture of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and ExxonMobil Corp. has let a contract to a consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Zachry Group to provide construction work on a new unit at the JV’s recently approved Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project, a 1.8 million-tonne/year ethane cracking complex in San Patricio County, Tex., near Corpus Christi (OGJ Online, July 25, 2016).

The consortium will deliver construction services beginning later this year for the complex’s two-train polyethylene unit, which is scheduled to be completed by 2022, Zachry Group said.

The service company did not disclose a value of the contract.

Earlier this month, the ExxonMobil-SABIC JV received final environmental regulatory approval to proceed with construction of the GCGV project, which—alongside the ethane steam cracker and two polyethylene units—also will include a 1.1 million-tpy monoethylene glycol unit (OGJ Online, June 13, 2019).

Upon announcing regulatory approval, the JV also confirmed it has let engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for the GCGV project to John Wood Group PLC; a consortium of McDermott International Inc. and Turner Industries Group LLC; and a consortium of Chiyoda Corp. and Kiewit Corp. Details of those contracts, however, have yet to be disclosed.

Project approval follows ExxonMobil and SABIC’s 2018 formation of the 50-50 GCGV JV—under which ExxonMobil will act as site operator—and the April 2017 selection of the San Patricio County site, which will allow ExxonMobil and SABIC to take advantage of the region’s existing infrastructure to capture competitive pricing for US natural gas feedstock as well as access to rising demand for ethylene-based products in overseas export markets (OGJ Online, May 7, 2018; Apr. 19, 2017).

Alongside forming part of SABIC’s growth strategy to build petrochemical installations in key markets—including the Americas—to address industry demand and achieve the company’s 2025 strategy, the proposed multibillion GCGV project also is one of the developments included as part of ExxonMobil’s 10-year, $20-billion Growing the Gulf expansion initiative announced in early 2017 (OGJ Online, Mar. 9, 2017).

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].