The long-awaited announcement on the appointment of an engineering partner for the construction of a 400 000-bl/d crude oil refinery at the Coega Industrial Development Zone, in the Eastern Cape, will be made on Monday.

National oil and gas company PetroSA initially expected to appoint an engineering partner for the $11-billion project Mthombo in October.

PetroSA external communications manager Thabo Mabaso in August told Engineering News Online that the company had received about 30 tenders from international and local companies that had expressed interest in participating.

Companies based in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Germany and India had all shown an interest in the project.

The engineering partner would be responsible for the execution of the feasibility, front-end engineering design and project management of the project through to the commissioning of the refinery.

Construction would start in 2010, with first production expected in 2015.

The company was granted a manufacturing licence for the project by the Department of Minerals and Energy in October.

UK-based engineering consultants KBC Process Technology had been appointed as the project's technical and commercial adviser in July, while project finance advisory services provider HSBC would manage the investment funding and structuring arrangements for the project.

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