Egypt’s GASCO lets contract for expansion of Alexandria gas complex

Egyptian Natural Gas Co. (GASCO) has let a contract to a consortium of Engineering Co. for Petroleum & Chemical Industries (ENPPI) and Petroleum Projects & Technical Consultation Co. (Petrojet) for the expansion of its Western Desert Gas Complex (WDGC) in El-Amreya, Alexandria, Egypt.

As part of the contract, signed in mid-February, ENPPI and partner Petrojet will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for WDGC’s proposed Train D, which will be the complex’s fourth production train, ENPPI and Petrojet said in separate posts to their official LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.

Once in operation, the new Train D will have a production capacity of 600 MMcfd, lifting WDGC’s overall production capacity from its current 950 MMcfd to 1.5 bcfd, according to the service providers.

Alongside increasing output of ethane-propane mixture as feedstock to supply Egyptian petrochemical producers—including Egyptian Ethylene & Derivatives Co.’s (Ethydco) 460,000-tonnes/year and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Co.’s (Sidpec) 300,000-tpy ethylene and derivatives complexes in Alexandria—the expansion also will increase WDGC’s production of LPG and condensates for local market consumption, ENPPI said.

The service companies said the project additionally will enable WDGC to increase production of commercial propane to be used as feedstock for Sidpec’s 450,000-tpy polypropylene plant currently under construction at its Alexandria manufacturing site (OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2018).

Neither ENPPI nor Petrojet disclosed further details regarding the WDGC expansion, and GASCO has yet to officially disclose information on the proposed project.

GASCO’s main shareholders include state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) 70%, Egypt Gas Co. 15%, and Petrojet 15%, according to the company’s web site.

Commissioned in 2000, WDGC—which receives and treats Western Desert gases from Badr El-Din Petroleum Co.’s Al-Obayed and Khalda Petroleum Co.'s Salam, Tarek, and El-Qaser fields—is Egypt’s first NGL plant to produce ethane-propane mixture as feedstock for Egypt’s petrochemicals industry, as well as commercial propane (OGJ Online, Jan. 28, 2008).

Ethydco officially commissioned its $1.9-billion Alexandria complex in 2016, the operator said in an Aug. 13, 2016, release. The complex is based on a feedstock of ethane-propane mixture it receives from WDGC, from which its produces ethylene, high-density and low-density polyethylene, butadiene, and other derivatives to meet domestic market needs (OGJ Online, Aug. 19, 2015).