Amec Foster Wheeler (London, U.K.; amecfw.com) has been awarded a $604-million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), fixed-price contract for part of a $1.85-billion methanol plant being developed by Yuhuang Chemical Inc (YCI), a U.S.-based subsidiary of China’s Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd. The first phase of the project, which includes the construction of a 1.8 million metric tons per annum methanol plant, is being built at YCI’s 1,300-acre site in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
The contract award reflects Amec Foster Wheeler’s strategy to grow both its chemicals business, as demand increases due to comparatively low oil and gas prices and its EPC portfolio. It follows the successful completion of an earlier phase of work at the plant awarded to Amec Foster Wheeler in 2015, covering engineering, project management, procurement and early construction services. The deep knowledge of the plant gained over the last two years, coupled with the recent local construction experience of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Power & Process business, gives an advantage for both contractor and client. The Power & Process business has successfully executed $3 billion of lump sum EPC work in the last three years.
In this latest contract award, Amec Foster Wheeler will combine the expertise and skills of its Oil, Gas & Chemicals and its Power & Process businesses to carry out specific infrastructure and utilities engineering work, the procurement of bulk items and selected tagged equipment, and the construction of the methanol plant.
In line with the “full notice to proceed,” $604 million will be added to the company’s order book in the second half of the year.