Heavy crude processing project awarded in Venezuela

16-10-1998 Sincor Ca, a joint venture company composed of Total Venezuela (47 %), PDVSA (38 %) and Statoil Sincor As (15 %), has just awarded Contrina a contract to design and build, on a turnkey basis, extra heavy crude oil facilities and associated utilities and offsites at Jose, Venezuela, near Puerto La Cruz.
Contrina is a joint venture company formed by 5 world-class engineering and construction firms: Technip of France, Brown & Root and Parsons of the US, and 2 Venezuelan firms, Proyecta and Dit-Harris. It was created for the Venezuelan heavy oil upgrader program.

With a treatment capacity of 284,000 bpd, the Sincor Downstream Refinery Project will receive diluted heavy crude oil from the Zuata region of the Orinoco oil belt to produce high-grade synthetic oil. The main facilities under the scope of work of Contrina include a crude/vacuum distillation unit, a mild hydrocracker, a naphtha distillate hydrotreater, sulphur handling facilities, and associated utilities and offsites.
The contract, valued at approximately $ 750 mm has come under force. Under its terms, Contrina will be responsible for design finalisation, detail engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning and handover of the facilities.
Contrina has decided to subcontract part of this work to the Caracas-based firm Inelectra. In addition, Contrina will manage the interfaces between its own scope of work and that of Sincor's other EPC contractors working on neighbouring units and facilities.