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Safety prevails over everything are also diffcult to source in the local market.
In other words: no compromise on safety princi- On the other hand, hiring specialized manpower
ples is allowed. Safety is an essential core value and deploying it in the area would have been
for Foster Wheeler (and important for the other expensive and hard to realize. Modularization
member of the consortium) and must be follo- was the chosen solution to address this chal-
wed frst. The question which we have always lenge and also to facilitate safer working. The
to answer when we plan something is: “Can we new refnery has been designed in modules
do it in a different way to improve safety?” If the which will be built in the Far East, offoaded in
response is yes, we have to implement it. Despi- selected oceanic ports and fnally transshipped
te any impact on cost and schedule objectives to the site.
which can occur.
Use the best skills where
Uniformity doesn’t mean available
uniqueness One of the characteristic of the DT is its lean
The project needed common bases. That is, structure. No specialist belongs to the DT and
engineering standards, basic specifcations, the DT is able to defne the content of the main
process philosophies, management procedures strategies but not to develop the documentation
that are valid for all the members of the consor- to properly address them. For this reason the DT
tium and applicable by everyone. However this assigned to each ET the precise task to develop
did not imply in itself that the normal practices the general standards and procedures accor-
and design tools of each EC had been “turned ding to their specifc areas of excellence. Foster
upside-down”. The common standards fx the Wheeler, who is recognized as world leader in
criteria (i.e. the “what?”) but do not determine modular design, has been selected to prepare
the method of satisfying them (i.e. the “how?”). the job specifcation for modularization.
For example they establish the required bearing
capacity for the foundations or the pressure
conditions at the battery limits but how to cal- The project is a cost-driven
culate a foundation or the pressure drop along project
a transfer line is part of the expertise and the
know-how of each company and remains within The consortium carried out many studies to
this boundary. analyze the main criticalities of the project. At
the end the cost has been identifed as the most
Build safely outside the plot critical parameter, classifying the job as a cost-
driven project. This is mainly due to the necessi-
The in-country work force is neither suffcient nor ty to keep under a specifc ceiling the investment
specialized enough to build a so complex facility. and limit the associated cost. In this perspective
Fig. 2 – Project governance Consumables and base construction materials any project decision, except for safety, has been
and will be determined taking into account its
cost impact.

Each EC designed its project organization con-
sidering the scope of work, the usual manage-
ment structure and the relations with the DT. It
has to be noted that the consortium established
some general rules. For example all the essen-
tial functions (engineering, construction, procu-
rement, project control etc.) had to be overseen
by a single focal point, dealing directly with the
respective leader inside DT, responsible for the
implementation of common requirements be-
longing to the specifc matter. These directives
promoted a certain homogeneity in all project
teams, even if some differences remained.
Foster Wheeler decided to identify a frst tier of
managers accountable for engineering, procu-
rement and construction and a second pool of
professionals delivering supporting functions
such as project control, cost control, administra-

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