INEOS awards EPC contract for PAO unit in Chocolate Bayou to SNC-Lavalin

SNC-Lavalin, based in Montreal, Canada, been awarded a lump sum EPC contract by INEOS Oligomers, to design and build a poly alpha olefin (PAO) unit at the INEOS petrochemical complex in Chocolate Bayou, Texas, U.S.A., in a joint venture with JV Driver.

The PAO unit, which is based on proprietary and differentiated INEOS Oligomers technology, is expected to come online in October 2019, with a production capacity of 120,000 metric tonnes per annum (tpa), making it the world’s largest single PAO train once in service, and will contribute to INEOS Oligomers’ ambitious growth plans.

Approved in late 2017, the new PAO unit will receive its feedstock from the adjacent 420,000 tpa linear alpha olefin (LAO) plant currently under construction at the same site, which is scheduled for startup in November.

PAOs are synthetic base stocks used to formulate high-performance lubricants in a wide variety of applications, ranging from aerospace and automotive to healthcare and industrial.

“This is a significant win for SNC-Lavalin and a major opportunity for us to expand on our excellent track record of safely delivering engineering, procurement and construction projects in downstream oil and gas. Working in collaboration with our joint venture partner JV Driver, we are looking forward to building a long-term relationship with INEOS,” said Christian Brown, president, Oil & Gas, SNC-Lavalin.

“The contract award demonstrates our ability to deliver fixed price engineering, procurement and self-performed construction on the U.S. Gulf Coast, something that continues to be important to clients across the oil and gas sector.”

SNC-Lavalin is providing overall project management, engineering, procurement services, while JV Driver is providing overall construction management.  SNC-Lavalin and JV Driver will jointly self-perform the main civil, mechanical, structural, electrical and instrumentation construction scopes of work.