Bermuda-based industrial giant Foster Wheeler has won a contract to manage a project to establish a new oil refinery in Libya.

The company announced yesterday that its Milan-based subsidiary Foster Wheeler Italiana S.p.A. was awarded the contract by Zwara Oil Refinery Company Limited (ZORCO) for consultancy and project management services.

The 200,000 barrels per facility is being built at Mellita, near Zwara, in the North African country. The refinery, scheduled to be completed by 2014, will cost around $4 billion and will produce premium quality gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

Foster Wheeler said its work would include optimisation of the refinery configuration, the selection of the licensors and the front-end engineering design, including preparation of a cost estimate. The company will also act as project management consultant during the engineering procurement and construction phase.

Foster Wheeler's contract value for the study and FEED phase will be included in the company's fourth-quarter 2008 bookings. The remainder of Foster Wheeler's project scope will not be booked until the project receives approval by ZORCO to proceed into the EPC phase.

"We are indeed extremely pleased to be awarded this prestigious contract by ZORCO," said Marco Moresco, chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler Italiana. "We have strong roots in Libya and we look forward to leveraging our in-depth refinery expertise to build on the excellent working relationships established in the past."

"This is a flagship project in North Africa requiring deep technical knowledge, experience and flexibility," said Dr. Ali Shamekh, chairman, ZORCO Ltd. "We are very pleased to award the contract to Foster Wheeler Italiana and we will join forces for the successful implementation of the project."