Page 13 - DMEA Week 24 2022

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Haditha refinery provides

update on its expansion

MIDDLE EAST IRAQ’S state-owned North Refineries Co. approval of a contract in March by the Iraqi
(NRC) has passed the half-way point in its pro- Cabinet.
ject to upgrade and expand capacity at the Hadi- Abdulaziz added that Honeywell UOP was
tha refinery in Anbar Governorate. hired to “complete the basic designs as a first
Speaking to local press this week, the refin- stage, and implement the project in the second
ery’s director, Hassan Mardi Abdulaziz, said that stage,” and said that “administrative procedures
the “project completion has exceeded 50%” as are currently being completed”.
it works to more than double capacity from the Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar laid the
current level of 16,000 barrels per day (bpd). foundation stones for the new unit in October
He said that the Heavy Engineering Equip- 2020. At the time, NRC general director Qassem
ment State Co. (HEESCO) “is manufacturing Abdel Rahman said that his company would
and installing two additional units, each unit invite international companies to carry out work
having a capacity of 10,000 bpd, bringing the to expand the refinery’s capacity by 35,000 bpd.
future capacity of the refinery to 36,000 bpd.” Meanwhile, in mid-2017, investors were
Noting that output from the expanded refin- invited to develop the project, alongside sev-
ery will help cater to growing local demand for eral other refineries, on a build-operate-trans-
gasoline, Abdulaziz said it would also “contribute fer (BOT) or build-own-operate (BOO) basis
to providing oil derivatives and reducing imports according to the framework laid out in ‘invest-
by adding hydrogenation units”. ment law 67’ from 2007 – when the post-2003
The work is being carried out in collabora- regime in Baghdad first launched a refinery
tion with US firm Honeywell UOP following development programme.™

Isfahan’s new diesel unit

to be ready by September

MIDDLE EAST A new diesel treatment unit at Iran’s 200,000 bar- “With the help of the development projects,
rel per day (bpd) Isfahan refinery is set to come observation of environmental standards, e pro-
into operation by mid-Q3, raising the facility’s duction of environmentally friendly products
production capabilities. in accordance with Euro 4 and 5 standards, we
Speaking to official state media this week, are taking big steps toward shaping a sustainable
Mohsen Qadiri, managing director of the state- economy,” he said.
owned Isfahan Oil Refining Co. (IORC), said He noted that the availability of water poses
that the new unit would come on stream within a significant operational threat to energy sector
two months. IORC currently produces 4mn activities, adding: “With the aim of turning the
litres per day of Euro-5 diesel and Qadiri noted threat into an opportunity, various projects have
that this capacity would increase to 20mn lpd. been implemented or are being carried out.”
“Costing $600mn, the project is expected to For the first time in Iran, he said: “the national
reduce sulphur content in diesel from 6,000 parts environmental project of treatment and indus-
per million to less than 10 ppm,” he told the Min- trial use of municipal wastewater has been
istry of Petroleum’s (MoP) Shana news agency. launched in Isfahan Oil Refining Company for
The launch of the new unit comes as part of reducing the use of drinking water resources by
wider efforts to upgrade and expand the refinery 750 cubic metres per hour.” This project took two
while lowering its environmental footprint. years to complete and cost a total of $3mn.
Last month, Qadiri was quoted as saying that Isfahan was named alongside the Bandar
IORC had invested a cumulative total in excess Abbas, Tabriz and Tehran refineries as part of a
of $1.4bn on projects to make it a “green” enter- $10bn improvement programme announced by
prise within the next two years. the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) in 2016.™

Week 24 16•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13