Toyo Engineering Corp., in consortium with Y&V Ingeniería y Construcción, C.A., has a project management consultant (PMC) contract for the heavy-oil upgrading project of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) at its Puerto La Cruz refinery in the state of Anzoátegui. The project includes an atmospheric-distillation unit, a vacuum-distillation unit, a slurry hydrocracker (HDH Plus) unit, a sequential hydroprocessing (SHP) unit, sulfur-recovery unit and a hydrogen-production unit, along with offsite and utility units.

This project aims to increase the refinery’s processing capacity by maximizing the use of the extra-heavy oil produced in the Orinoco oil belt to satisfy the energy demands of Venezuela’s domestic market and exports overseas.

This is said to be an epoch-making project since the project’s main unit is the first commercialization of a heavy-oil upgrading technology developed by PDVSA’s research and development center, PDVSA Intevep.

The consortium will, jointly with PDVSA’s project team, perform PMC services to manage and control several contractors engaged in the project up to its startup.

Project duration is estimated to be 52 months.

Braskem and PetroPerú have joined forces to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of a petrochemical project in Peru. Both companies aim to study the possibility of implanting units for the integrated production of 1.2 million tpy of ethylene and polyethylene using ethane from the natural gas reserves in the Las Malvinas region.

If feasibility is confirmed, and assuming successful definitive agreement negotiation and approval by the shareholders of both companies, the undertaking will be part of the so-called Integrated Southern Project. This project includes the construction of the Southern Andean Gas Pipeline by Kuntur and of a modern petrochemical complex in the south of Peru, which will reportedly be a landmark in the country’s industrialization process.

WorleyParsons has a contract for the project management consultancy of the Refinería del Pacífico refining and petrochemical complex, a project with an approximate total installed cost of $12 billion. The complex is located in the province of Manabí, Ecuador, and is a joint venture between PetroEcuador and PDVSA Ecuador S. A. The refinery will have a crude processing capacity of 300,000 bpd.

During Phase I of the project, Worley-Parsons will provide an integrated project management team (IPMT) located in Houston, Texas. The IPMT will provide oversight of the project’s front-end engineering and design (FEED) and assist the client in selecting the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors. In Phase II the IPMT will provide oversight of the EPC contractors and will be responsible for construction management of early activities at the Manabí site.

The project is scheduled to be completed by December 2015. The estimated reimbursable contract value to WorleyParsons for Phase I and Phase II is anticipated to be in excess of $200 million.  HP