Bechtel will design Africa’s largest petchem complex: US construction giant Bechtel will lead the design and construction of the USD 7.5 bn petchem complex being built by the Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemicals Company in the Ain Sokhna industrial zone under two agreements signed with the Oil Ministry over the weekend, the ministry said in a statement. The agreements will see the US company working alongside state-owned Petrojet and Enppi on the project management, engineering design services, and construction of the facility, which the government says will be the largest of its kind in Africa.

Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemicals Company and Bechtel are expected to sign an official agreement for the project in early August, the statement said. Bechtel, Technip and Saipem have already assisted the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) in conducting preliminary studies for the project, while Bechtel is said to also be securing funding from unnamed international institutions for the execution of the project.

What’s happening with TPC? We’ve been told that the Red Sea-Bechtel refinery is a separate project to the USD 11 bn Tahrir Petrochemicals Complex (TPC), which is also billing itself as the biggest refinery of its kind in Africa. TPC owner Carbon Holdings was reported in April to be restructuring mns of USD in debt taken on to finance the construction of the plant. A TPC official declined to provide an update on the project when approached by Enterprise at the time.