2026-10-15
- It is reported that Honeywell Technologies announced on October 12, 2026 that Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) selected it for licensing and engineering services on a new aromatics complex in Bahrain.
- According to the announcement, the complex is designed for about 1.2 million metric tons per year (t/y) of paraxylene and about 500,000 t/y of benzene.
- The technologies are UOP Naphtha Hydrotreating, CCR Platforming and the LDPX Aromatics Complex, it is reported.
- The scope also reportedly includes catalysts, adsorbents and equipment in addition to licensing and engineering.
- The site is GPIC’s existing industrial complex in Sitra, Bahrain. The contract value and start-up date are not known.
According to a press release issued from Manama, Bahrain on October 12, 2026, Honeywell Technologies said that GPIC chose Honeywell Technologies UOP to provide licensing and engineering services for a new aromatics complex. It is reported that the facility is designed for about 1.2 million t/y of paraxylene and about 500,000 t/y of benzene, adding a petrochemical product line to a complex that has produced ammonia, urea and methanol. The project reportedly applies three UOP technologies: Naphtha Hydrotreating, CCR Platforming and the LDPX Aromatics Complex. Earlier, on July 21, 2026, Fluor Corp. announced that it had been awarded the FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) for the same aromatics facility, which suggests that the process technology licensor has now been confirmed at the design stage.
According to the press release, the owner is GPIC and the supplier is UOP, the process technology business of Honeywell Technologies. GPIC is reported to be a joint venture established on December 5, 1979, with one-third shareholdings (33.3% each) held by Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco), SABIC Agri-Nutrients Investment Co. of Saudi Arabia and Petrochemical Industries Co. of Kuwait. The existing complex is said to sit on about 60 hectares of reclaimed land and to produce ammonia, methanol and urea using domestically produced natural gas as feedstock.
The new aromatics complex is reportedly to be built within this existing industrial complex in Sitra, Bahrain. Honeywell Technologies’ scope is described as technology licensing, engineering and associated engineering services, together with catalysts, adsorbents and equipment. The three UOP technologies are consecutive steps in the process flow. Naphtha Hydrotreating is a pretreatment step that removes impurities harmful to downstream catalysts from the naphtha feed. CCR (Continuous Catalytic Regeneration) Platforming converts naphtha into an aromatics-rich reformate, and the LDPX Aromatics Complex is an integrated complex technology that separates and produces paraxylene and benzene from the aromatics mixture.
GPIC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yasser A. Rahim Alabbasi reportedly said that the project is an investment in advanced technologies that will strengthen production capabilities, supporting long-term industrial growth and market demand for essential petrochemicals.
The two companies are said to have a long-standing relationship, with earlier collaboration on PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) technology, adsorbents and process automation at GPIC’s ammonia and methanol facilities.
Numbers
- Paraxylene: about 1.2 million t/y (about 1.2 million metric tons per year)
- Benzene: about 500,000 t/y (about 500,000 metric tons per year)
- Technologies: UOP Naphtha Hydrotreating, CCR Platforming, LDPX Aromatics Complex (three in total)
- Scope: licensing, engineering and associated services, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment
- Location: Sitra, Bahrain, within GPIC’s existing industrial complex (about 60 hectares of reclaimed land)
- Product uses: feedstocks for plastics, polyester fibers and packaging materials serving consumer and industrial markets
- The contract value, construction schedule and commercial operation date are not known.
Because the existing GPIC complex centers on natural gas-based fertilizer and methanol businesses, a naphtha-based aromatics business appears to be a new pillar in the product portfolio. However, how the new facility will procure its naphtha feed is not known.
Timeline
- 1979-12-05 — GPIC established
- 1985 — Ammonia and methanol plants commissioned
- 1998 — Urea granules plant commissioned
- 2026-07-21 — Fluor Corp. announces FEED award for GPIC aromatics facility
- 2026-10-12 — Honeywell Technologies announces GPIC selection for aromatics complex licensing and engineering
- 2026-10-13 — SaudiGulf Projects reports the award
Note
CCR Platforming is a UOP process that converts naphtha into an aromatics-rich reformate while continuously regenerating the catalyst, and the downstream step that separates and recovers paraxylene and benzene from the reformate is the LDPX Aromatics Complex, it is said. Paraxylene is the isomer in the mixed xylenes with the largest demand as a polyester raw material.