Under the terms of the deal, JGC will design a fluid catalytic cracking unit. The Japanese firm intends to provide the JV with a basic design of the structure by September 2005 and hopes to land the entire procurement and construction order as well, which would be worth around US$967 million.

Due to begin operations in 2008, construction of the plant - to be sited in Rabigh - is to begin next year. The US$4.3 billion complex, once completed, will produce 1.3 million tons of ethylene and 900,000 tons of propylene per annum.