Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The UAE’s ADNOC Refining on Thursday announced awarding a Pre-Front End Engineering and Designing (Pre-FEED) contract to the Wood Group, a global leader in engineering, project and technical services, for the new refinery in Ruwais.

The contract is considered the first step toward setting up the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in Ruwais, according to the company’s statement.

It is also a milestone as the oil refining business of state-run ADNOC accelerates delivery of its AED 165 billion ($45 billion) expansionary downstream strategy, making ADNOC a leading global downstream player, the statement added. 

The contract will enable ADNOC Refining to increase the range and volume of high-value downstream products it sells, the statement added.

“Today marks a significant step towards fulfilling ADNOC’s strategy of developing the largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the world,” Jasem Ali Al Sayegh, CEO of ADNOC Refining, commented.

The new refinery will be designed to have full conversion capability and allow integration with petrochemicals industries in Ruwais, the fourth largest single site refinery in the world.

The Pre-FEED, the second stage in a four-stage process to begin the construction work, is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, the statement said, giving no further details on the contract’s value.

“We are delighted to partner with Wood and to have their global expertise available to us. This is a major milestone in the future growth plans of ADNOC Refining,” Al Sayegh added.