Idea Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride Company (Isacc) has commissioned Jacobs Engineering to build a soda ash and calcium chloride production facility in Jubail, with a total annual capacity of up to 800000 tonnes.
Saudi-based Idea Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride Company (Isacc) has signed up Jacobs Engineering to build a USD 293.3 million soda ash and calcium chloride production facility in Jubail, with a total annual capacity of up to 800000 tonnes.
According to Abdulaziz Yahya Al-Muaiyyad, managing director and CEO of Isacc, and Dr Bob Irvin, Group VP of Jacobs Engineering, the facility will be the first in the Kingdom and Gulf region to produce sodium carbonate and calcium chloride.
Al-Muaiyyad described the project as a strategic one for Saudi Arabia since it will be contribute significantly to the development of the Kingdom’s non-oil economy with all basic materials secured from mines within the country.
“The project will provide the Kingdom’s requirements for soda ash and calcium chloride, used in oil and gas drilling operations and the manufacture of glass and detergents, which are currently being imported from outside sources,” he stated.
Al-Muaiyyad added that the company had fulfilled all the necessary requirements and would start construction before the middle of next year. He went on to say that the project has the strong backing of the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Saudi Aramco, and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.
The commissioning production run is scheduled to start by end of 2014 and commercial operations will follow in the first quarter of 2015. Work is currently under process to secure all the other necessary utilities to run the project.
The industrial complex, viewed as an outstanding example of the progress being made in the development of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy and diversification of the Kingdom’s revenues, will contribute to the reduction of unemployment in the Kingdom by providing more than 800 job opportunities in the various facilities and plant services.
Commenting on the venture, Irvine said: ‘This project is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and we are especially pleased that Jacobs Engineering has been selected to carry out the engineering services and management of the project since we fully recognize the importance of increasing the participation of the chemical industries sector in the national economy.’