In the downstream sector, six companies have submitted technical and commercial bids to a team of Aramco and the US's Dow Chemical Company for the first major construction contract covering the Ras Tanura Integrated Project (RTIP) at Jubail. Estimated to be worth US$1.8bn, the EPC contract will cover the construction of a multi-feed cracker that will produce 1.2m tonnes/year (t/y) of ethane and 400,000 t/y of propylene. The facility will be designed to use both ethane and propane as feedstock and will be one of the first of its kind in the Middle East. The bidders are JGC Corporation of Japan; Daelim Industrial Company and Samsung Engineering, both of South Korea; Saipem of Italy; Paris-based Technip; and Tecnicas Reunidas of Spain.

RTIP will focus on the construction of a mega petrochemicals complex that will include a world-scale cracker and 35 downstream units, with the aim of producing over 250 different products. The eventual cost of the project is estimated at US$15bn.