French contractor Technip has been awarded contracts by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) for gas and petrochemical plants at a new complex to be built in Garadagh, near Baku, in Azerbaijan.

The scope of work includes the engineering design of a new single-train gas processing plant with a capacity of 10 billion m³/y, and a steam cracker producing 610,000 t/y ethylene and 120,000 t/y propylene. In addition, Technip will design the related utilities and offsite units.

The contractor’s operating center in Rome, Italy, will execute the projects, which are scheduled to be completed during the second half of 2017.

Marco Villa, president of Technip’s Onshore-Offshore business in Europe, Russia, Middle East, India, Africa and Latin America, said the award consolidates its long-term relationship with SOCAR while at the same time reinforcing its presence in Azerbaijan, which it considers a strategic market. In November 2016, the Paris-headquartered group won a contract to modernize SOCAR’s Azerikimya refinery and cracker complex at Sumgait.

Also included in the Garadagh complex will be a 600,000 t/y PE unit, but this plant is not included in Technip’s scope of work.