(EnergyAsia, May 19 2001, Thursday) —- Switzerland’s Foster Wheeler AG said a subsidiary has secured a contract from Thai Oil Public Company Limited to provide basic design engineering package and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) services for work on its refinery in Sriracha by the first quarter of 2013.

The project’s objectives are to give the refinery greater flexibility in the crudes it can process, specifically to enable the refinery to process higher sulphur crudes, to upgrade fuel oil to more valuable end products and to meet new sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions regulations coming into force in Thailand.

Residue production will be reduced through the application of deep cut vacuum technology, which helps mitigate the effects of heavier crude slates. In addition, new sour gas handling facilities will be installed, including a sulphur recovery unit and a tail gas treatment unit, and hydrogen production capacity will be expanded by installation of a new pressure swing adsorption unit. Foster Wheeler’s scope also includes a significant element of revamp work.

Foster Wheeler did not disclose the terms of the award but said the contract values were included in its first-quarter 2011 bookings.

Its interim CEO, Umberto della Sala, said:

“Foster Wheeler has enjoyed a long track record of successful projects in Thailand, and specifically for Thai Oil at Sriracha. We are very pleased to have won a further strong vote of confidence in our technical expertise and project execution capability with this latest award. We have put together a very capable and experienced team in our Sriracha operation, and this team is very focused on meeting Thai Oil’s objectives for this important project.”