Contract awarded to build new petrochemical facility outside Edmonton

A new multibillion-dollar petrochemical facility being developed in Alberta will be built by a 50/50 partnership between Fluor Canada Ltd. and Kiewit Construction Services ULC.

The partnership is called Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation (CKPC).

“With more than 25 million hours of construction experience in Alberta, we bring together two industry-leading contractors to deliver end-to-end engineering, procurement and construction services for CKPC’s new PDH unit – the third world-scale facility of its kind for Fluor in recent years,” said Mark Fields, group president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business. “Our partnership is committed to building a safe and reliable facility that not only fosters a positive economic impact but also provides a long-term, sustainable solution for polypropylene production in Canada.”

The deal with Fluor and Kiewit covers construction of the site’s propane dehydrogenation facility. CKPC said the contractor selection process for the polypropylene upgrading facility is still ongoing.

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. and Petrochemical Industries Co. K.S.C. of Kuwait have been planning the facility within the Alberta Industrial Heartland development area northeast of Edmonton for nearly four years.

Pembina has a 50 per cent interest in the joint venture with Petrochemical Industries, which will own the propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene upgrading plants.

Pembina is also paying for projects involving supporting facilities in which it will retain full ownership. The plants will be located next to Pembina’s Redwater fractionation complex, which extracts liquids such as propane, ethane, and condensate from raw natural gas.

The facility is scheduled to open by mid-2023. When complete, the plant and polypropylene upgrading facility will convert locally sourced, low-cost propane into 550,000 tons per year of polypropylene, to be shipped to manufacturers around the world. The facility is expected to consume about 23,000 barrels per day of propane.

In addition to the two units, the complex will consist of a central utility block and product handling area with associated support systems and facilities.