Volume 2, issue #22 - 20-10-1997

Sept. 3, 1997 France's oil engineering and construction company, Technip, has been awarded a $ 200 million turnkey contract to provide a cracker unit for the Turkmen Bashi refinery on the Caspian Sea.
Technip said the contract was awarded by the Ministry of Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan and also concerned the Mehrav Group of companies, the refinery's owner representative.
The deal involves the design and construction of a second catalytic cracker and is part of the modernisation plan for the Turkmen refinery. Technip is called on to provide basic and detailed engineering, equipment supply, construction and start-up for the project.
The new unit will have a capacity of 1.8 mm tpy and will convert distillate cuts into gasoline. Production start-up is scheduled for the year 2000.
The project is being financed by a number of sources in several countries -- France, Belgium, Turkey and Malaysia. The lead bank for the deal is Germany's Bayerische Landesbank.