More traditionally been oriented towards oil-refining, petrochemical and power generation plants, the company is expecting to shore up its business portfolio by winning the Wasit Gas Plant project

SK Engineering & Construction has won the Wasit Gas Plant project, launched by state-run Aramco of Saudi Arabia. The project is made up of four packages. SK E&C alone clinched three of the projects; construction of facilities for gas processing, natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation and sulfur recovery. The contracts are worth a total of US$1.9 billion.

The gas processing facility construction is at the core of the entire project. Once completed, installation is scheduled to produce sales gas after removing impurities such as sulfur and carbon dioxide from natural gas extracted from the Hasbah and Arabia Gas Fields.

The sulfur recovery facility project involves creation of a recovery unit which extracts sulfur from composite material. The project also includes construction of relevant facilities, such as the water and air suppliers, necessary for the management of such a plant.

The NGL fractionation facility to be established by SK E&C will be used to produce ethane, propane, butane and gasoline compounds on a commercial scale by processing NGL.

SK won the project on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) turnkey basis. Scheduled to be completed in 2014 after 38 months of construction, the Wasit Gas Plant will be located in the coastal area of the Gulf, approximately 50km north of Saudi Arabia’s biggest industrial city of Jubail. Down the road, it will process approximately 70 million cubic meters of natural gas from the Arabia and Hasbah Gas Fields for domestic use.

Emerging as a Big Shot in the Saudi Arabian Plant Market

SK E&C stepped into the country’s plant construction market in 2009 when it constructed the Jubail Oil Refinery, worth US$500 million. In the following year, it signed US$300 million and US$600 million contracts for the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) and Yanbu Oil Refinery, respectively.

At this time, it beat no less than 12 competitors and succeeded yet again in winning a mega-scale project from Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil companies, by highlighting its superb track record in project execution and product quality. This will serve as further momentum for SK to rise as a powerhouse in the Saudi Arabian construction market. SK has continued its winning streak in the Middle East nation for three years. Currently, it is engaged in four projects there, with combined construction costs amounting to US$3.3 billion.

The Wasit project is especially significant in that it is SK’s first gas plant construction project. The company is expecting the achievement will further shore up its business portfolio, which has more traditionally been oriented towards oil-refining, petrochemical and power generation plants.

“The Wasit Gas Plant undertaking will cost approximately two trillion won in total and is our first order obtained abroad in 2011,” said Kim Yoon-geun, senior managing director of SK E&C and in charge of the Middle East and Africa. He added, “We will continue to focus our abilities on the arena and attain the overseas business goal of six trillion won across plant construction, civil engineering, and general construction, etc.”

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