Samsung wins US$3.6 billion EPC contract for the second phase of Dos Bocas in Mexico

November 4, 2020

Samsung Engineering has been awarded a US$3.6 billion contract for the second phase of construction of the Dos Bocas refinery. Valued at a total of US$8.9 billion, this project is located in the state of Tabasco, 700 km east of Mexico City, and will process 340,000 barrels of oil per day.

Infraestructura de Desarrollo, a subsidiary of the public company Pemex, which owns the project and is responsible for its supervision, has sent a letter of intent to Samsung engineering to conclude the contract.

from Google Images

The first phase included engineering, planning and development (FEED). Phase 2, in addition to the cost estimates, converts the previous stage contracts into detailed engineering, procurement and construction agreements for the project (EPC).

Samsung was awarded two of the six packages included in the project (packages 2 and 3). The construction works for this phase 2 include a diesel hydrodesulphurisation unit, a diesel hydrodesulphurisation unit, a naphtha hydrotreating unit, a naphtha reformer and a fluid catalytic cracking unit. This project is Samsung Engineering’s 6th PEMEX project.

This construction phase of Dos Bocas is currently highly criticized due to initial cost overruns. Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), the main contractors of phase 1, are withdrawing because they could not meet the project’s budget expectations and have been replaced by Techint and ICA-Fluor. To date, $933 million has been invested in the project, which is now 24% complete. The Mexican government assures that the refinery will be ready for operation by July 2022.

Samsung Engineering has also partnered with Pemex in the ongoing review of six of its refineries located in Salamanca, Tula and Minatitlan. The Mexican oil company has announced that the refurbishment work will be completed in 2023.

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by Nicolas Boudou