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IRVING, Texas – Fluor Corporation has been awarded the FEED contract for GPIC's proposed aromatics plant in Bahrain, moving the long-discussed project one step closer to reality.
The facility, planned for GPIC's existing Sitra complex, is designed to produce 1.2 million metric tons per year of paraxylene and 500,000 metric tons per year of benzene. Fluor's scope covers front-end engineering and design, including process optimization, equipment specification, plot layout, and cost estimation.
For GPIC, the project marks a strategic pivot. The company, a three-way joint venture owned by Bahrain's Bapco Energies, Saudi Arabia's SABIC Agri-Nutrients, and Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company, has built its reputation on ammonia, urea, and methanol. Aromatics put it in a different league—and a different market, serving the polyester and plastics supply chains that stretch across Asia.
"This is a complex job in a demanding environment," said Pierre Bechelany, who heads Fluor's Energy Solutions business. Bechelany, a 35-year industry veteran who joined Fluor in 2010 after a long stint at Bechtel, is no stranger to large Middle East petrochemicals. Fluor reported $16.3 billion in revenue for 2024 and ranks No. 257 on the Fortune 500. The company has been active in the region for decades, handling everything from gas processing to refinery upgrades.
Aromatics processing is hard on equipment. High temperatures, high pressures, and corrosive streams—hydrogen, sulfides, aromatic hydrocarbons—take a toll on vessels, columns, heat exchangers, and piping.
That's where explosion bonded clad plate comes in. The material, made by welding a corrosion-resistant alloy—stainless steel, nickel alloy, or titanium—to a carbon steel backing, offers a practical combination: the corrosion resistance of the cladding where it's needed, and the structural strength of carbon steel everywhere else.
For a project of this scale, the clad plate procurement could run into thousands of tons. Typical applications include:
Reactor shells and internal linings
Distillation column sections
Heat exchanger tubesheets and channels
Transfer lines and slug catchers
Storage tank bottom plates
The Sitra site has deep-water access, which simplifies delivery of heavy clad plate sections. Quality requirements will likely include EN10204 Type 3.2 certification and NACE MR0175 compliance for sour service.
GPIC has not disclosed a timeline for final investment decision or construction start. FEED typically runs 8 to 12 months, followed by detailed engineering and procurement.
For clad plate manufacturers, the signal is clear: when FEED wraps up, specifications will firm up, and orders will follow. The Middle East remains one of the busiest regions for new petrochemical capacity, and Bahrain's entry into aromatics adds another node to the map.
Fugo Tech is a manufacturer of clad plates and machined components for pressure vessels and heat exchangers. Core products include clad tube sheets, clad dish heads, and baffle plates. Complementary materials cover titanium, nickel alloy, and stainless steel. ISO 9001 and PED certified. www.fugo-tech.com | sales@fugo-tech.com.
Fugo Tech is focused on the manufacturing of clad metal plate and distributes the Stainless Steel, Titanium, Nickel Alloy, Zirconium and other non-ferrous metal pipes, fittings, and flanges.
