Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) has awarded Foster Wheeler services contracts for the Paradip Refinery Project, expected to be one of the largest integrated refinery petrochemicals complexes in India.

Foster Wheeler Energy and Foster Wheeler India have been awarded services contracts by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) for the Paradip Refinery Project, which is expected to be one of the largest integrated refinery petrochemicals complexes in India. This world-scale facility, comprising a new export refinery and petrochemicals complex, will be built in Orissa State.The Foster Wheeler scope includes the front-end engineering design (FEED), preparation of cost estimates and the overall project strategy, and supervision of early works on site up to financial investment decision for the refinery, which is expected in mid-2008. The planned new refinery, with a crude processing capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum (TPA), will include a fluidised catalytic cracking unit, an aromatics complex and a polypropylene unit.

The new complex will ultimately produce 700,000 TPA of polypropylene, 1.2 million TPA of paraxylene, 600,000 TPA of styrene monomer, along with 10.5 million TPA of refined petroleum products.

This award also includes a detailed feasibility study for Phase 2 of the development, the Paradip Naphtha Cracker Project.

'Foster Wheeler is very pleased to be awarded this strategically important project,' said Steve Davies, chairman and chief executive officer, Foster Wheeler Energy: 'This award reflects our in-depth expertise in refining and petrochemicals and in the successful integration of refining and petrochemicals production.

We have been active in the Indian market for over seventy years and it remains a very important market for Foster Wheeler.

We look forward to working with IOCL to deliver a high quality FEED which meets or exceeds our client's expectations'.