Meed | Contractors prepare Algeria chemical plant bids

Contractors prepare Algeria chemical plant bids

9 March 2023

Contractors are preparing to submit technical bids for the planned a linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant at Skikda in Algeria, according to industry sources.

The contract was originally tendered by Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach with a deadline for technical bid submission on 3 March. This was subsequently extended until 23 March.

Since then, the bid submission deadline has been extended by another four weeks.

The state-owned company has been in talks with contractors regarding the chemicals project.

Industry sources said that Sonatrach has not signalled what the project’s capacity or its budget will be.

LABs are a family of organic compounds that are mainly produced as intermediaries in the production of surfactants, for use in detergent. 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 previously made statements about the development of a LAB plant in Skikda but, for many years, there was little in the way of project progress following past announcements.

In 2016, Sonatrach said that it was planning a LAB project that would have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year (t/y). At the time, it said that the project was either going to be developed in Skikda or Arzew.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10660553/main.jpg

Wil Crisp