EEI joint venture bags P11-B propane plant project in Saudi Arabia

EEI Corp. and Al Rushaid Petroleum Investment Co.’s (ARPIC) joint venture firm Al Rushaid Construction Co. Ltd. (ARCC) has bagged an P11-billion deal to build a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The PDH plant is for the Advance Polyolefins Industry Co., a joint venture of Advanced Global Investment Co., which is wholly owned by Advanced Petrochemical Co. and SK Gas Petrochemical.

ARCC is also tasked to build the plant’s utilities and off-site facilities, which “consist of water and air essential to plant utility production facilities that produce steam, auxiliary facilities, and water treatment facilities,” under the deal made last month.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, EEI said ARCC is in charge of the “civil, building, steel structure, mechanical, tank, piping, painting, electrical and instrumentation works of the project for a total of 25 months.”

It added that the PDH plant will have a capacity of 843,000 tons of propylene annually “by removing hydrogen from propane” to feed two polypropylene plants 400,000 tons each per year “for production of specialty polymers by manufacturers of face mask, automotive, pipes, food packaging and textile industries.”

Construction of the plant will be done by Italian engineering company Tecnimont, while propane feedstock will be provided by Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco under a long-term contract.

Work for the PDH plant started this month and is expected to be completed in November 2023 with a total of 3,769 workers.

Aside from the PDH plant, EEI said ARCC secured seven other projects this year.

EEI has also secured two contracts this year, one with Cebu Landmasters, Inc. to build a 40-storey mixed-used building at the Cebu Business Park and another with SM Development Corp. to build a 52-storey residential tower in Malate, Manila.

“EEI Corp. maintains a substantial backlog of projects that is sufficient to sustain the business in the next three to five years. But what’s more important is that we are well-positioned to win more contracts as we continue to bid for mega infrastructure projects here and abroad,” EEI Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Jose L. Castillo said.

Shares in EEI at the local bourse went up by 1.4% or nine centavos on Monday to end at P6.52 apiece. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago