Daewoo E&C signs $492.3 million repair deal with Nigeria's WRPC

Daewoo Engineering & Construction (E&C) signed a $492.3 million deal with Nigeria's Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) to repair its oil refining plant.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction President Baek Jung-wan, third from left, and Mustapha Yakubu, COO of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation's refining and petrochemical division, fourth from left, pose for a photo after signing a letter of award on June 24. [DAEWOO ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION]

Daewoo Engineering & Construction (E&C) signed a $492.3 million deal with Nigeria’s Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) to repair its oil refining plant.

The construction company announced Monday that Daewoo E&C Nigeria, its 49-percent-owned subsidiary, signed a letter of award (LoA) for a maintenance and repair deal on June 24. Signing the LoA means the company will be awarded the contract in the future, and the final contract will be signed within 8 weeks.

Daewoo E&C’s Nigerian subsidiary will repair the Warri Refinery, an oil refining plant located 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) from Warri Port. The plant was built in 1978, but operation was halted for the past three years.

Construction will start July and is expected to end in December next year.

Baek Jung-wan, president of Daewoo E&C, flew to Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC)’s headquarters in Abuja to sign the LoA on June 24. NGMC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WRPC’s parent, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.

Jung Tae-won, managing director of Daewoo E&C Nigeria Limited, and Mr. Babatunde Bakare, managing director of WRPC, also signed the deal.

Daewoo E&C said it was able to sign the maintenance deal due to numerous construction projects it participated in in Nigeria, such as the deal to build a urea plant for Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals. Maintenance deals also have lower risk, and are expected to be more profitable for the company.

“We are participating in more construction projects to build new oil refineries and repair old ones in Nigeria,” said a spokesperson for Daewoo E&C. “The deal will also open new opportunities for us to expand into new business of operating and managing refineries in the future.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]