Foster Wheeler Ltd. announced Tuesday that Italian and Greek subsidiaries of its Continental Europe operating unit, part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, have been awarded engineering, procurement and construction management contracts by Hellenic Petroleum S.A. for a refinery upgrading project at one of the company's refineries, at Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. The scope of the project is the production of low sulfur fuels, which also results in significant environmental improvements. Hellenic, an energy company, primarily engages in refining and marketing of petroleum products, petrochemicals, power production and natural gas, as well as other sectors, in southeastern Europe.
The terms of the awards were not disclosed and the contracts will be included in Foster Wheeler's second-quarter 2008 bookings.
Foster Wheeler's scope comprises a new 15,000 barrels per stream day (BPSD) continuous catalytic reformer, modification of the existing atmospheric distillation unit in order to switch the operation from high to low sulfur crudes and revamp of the existing naphtha hydrofiner and crude light ends processing unit to increase to 26,000 BPSD the refinery's processing capacity for the light products.
"Foster Wheeler has maintained a strong presence in the South Mediterranean region and, in particular, in the vibrant Greek refinery market," said Marco Moresco, chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler Italiana. Hellenic Petroleum is an important client with whom we have a long-standing relationship, and we look forward to delivering a strong performance which meets our client's high expectations."
"We have selected Foster Wheeler because of its ability to provide qualified and professional services and to make available skilled and experienced resources," said Mr. S. Kyriakopoulos, general director of refineries, Hellenic Petroleum.
The refinery upgrading project, which will increase gasoline and diesel oil production, is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
Foster Wheeler Ltd. is a global company offering, through its subsidiaries, a broad range of engineering, procurement, construction, manufacturing, project development and management, research and plant operation services. Foster Wheeler serves the upstream oil and gas, LNG and gas-to-liquids, refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, power, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare industries. The company is based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and its operational headquarters are in Clinton, N.J.
