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Algerian chemicals project faces delays

1 April 2026

 

The $1.1bn project to develop a linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant in Algeria’s Skikda region is facing delays, according to industry sources.

Under the terms of the original contract, it was expected to be completed over 44 months, with project execution starting in March 2024.

One source said: “There have been some issues with the project and it is not currently progressing in line with the original schedule that was set out.”

If the project had kept to the original schedule, it would have been completed in November 2027.

The project client is Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach.

When asked to comment on the delay, a spokesperson for Sonatrach said: “Please be informed that we do not confirm, deny or comment on rumours, speculation or any non-public information regarding project schedules, progress or commercial matters.”

The main contract for the LAB project was awarded to Tecnimont, a subsidiary of Italy’s Maire, in March 2024.

The contract it won uses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract model.

It was originally tendered by Sonatrach with a technical bid submission deadline of 3 March 2023, which was then extended several times.

The scope of the project entails the implementation of a new LAB plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes, and the associated utilities, offsites and interconnections with the existing facilities.

In December, China’s Jilin Chemical Construction (JCC) won a contract worth more than $100m to work on the project.

Its contract is expected to be completed over 17 months after activation in March this year.

JCC has said that its project scope includes engineering work “involving all disciplines”.

JCC is wholly owned by China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering and is affiliated to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Linear alkyl benzene

LABs are a family of organic compounds mainly produced as intermediaries in the production of surfactants. Since the 1960s, LAB has emerged as the dominant precursor of biodegradable detergents.

Hydrotreated kerosene is a typical feedstock for high-purity linear paraffins, which are subsequently dehydrogenated to linear olefins.

Alternatively, ethylene can be oligomerised to produce linear alkenes. The resulting linear mono-olefins react with benzene in the presence of a catalyst to produce the LABs.

Sonatrach has been planning to develop a large LAB project for at least a decade.

In 2016, the energy major said it was planning a LAB project with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year (t/y) and that it would be developed in either Skikda or Arzew.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16212518/main.png
Wil Crisp

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