Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Spain’s Cepsa have signed a project development agreement for a new linear alkylbenzene (LAB) facility in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais refining and petrochemicals complex, Reuters reported.

The LAB facility will use products from petrochemical refining processes to create detergents, paints, and cosmetics. ADNOC will provide resources and expertise regarding feedstock while Cepsa provides the LAB technology jointly developed by Cepsa and UOP. Cepsa currently runs LAB facilities in Brazil, Canada and Spain, constituting 15% of global supply, according to Process Worldwide.

The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November 2017 to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a LAB facility in Ruwais. The project will now move to the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) stage.

“The LAB manufacturing facility will be fully integrated within the ADNOC refining complex, taking feedstocks of kerosene and benzene and benefiting from the suite of utilities and services of the Ruwais complex,” ADNOC said.

“At 150,000 tonnes/year [in production capacity, this] will be the largest LAB plant ever,” Cepsa executive Jose Manuel Martinez stated to Icis in November.

The project marks the first joint venture both companies are taking together, with each party contributing 50%.

ADNOC announced on May 13 plans to invest almost $50 billion over five years to become a global player in the downstream business, Reuters reported.

The NOC, will add a third refinery at its Ruwais complex, expanding its capacity to 600,000 barrels per day (b/d) by 2025. The NOC plans to double its refining capacity and triple its annual petrochemicals output potential to 14.4 million tonnes by 2025, according to Reuters.