[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Engineering & Construction obtained an order to build a gas treatment plant worth 833 billion won ($727 million) from Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco, the company said Friday.

The plant, planned to be built in Usmania, 325 kilometers east of the capital Riyadh, will be used for separating and collecting natural gas liquids, such as ethane and propane, through a demethanizer from the 1.4 cubic feet of gas produced in the region. 

Taking charge of the full process from engineering to construction, Hyundai E&C will complete the project by the end of 2019, it said.

The contract amount is equivalent to 4.36 percent of the company’s total sales of late last year, it added.

Ordered by Aramco, the constructor has previously built a similar facility worth $1.2 billion in 2012, and the other one worth $700 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, Hyundai E&C recorded a 4.1 rise in its operating profits to 275 billion won in the third quarter. 

The sales, however, dropped by 5.2 percent to 4.4 trillion won. The net profit also witnessed a decrease of 16.8 percent to 135 billion won.

By Lee Hyun-jeong /The Korea Herald(rene@heraldcorp.com)