Page 11 - DMEA Week 35 2021

DMEA REFINING DMEA

KNPC extends CFP PMC contract

MIDDLE EAST KUWAIT Petroleum Corp.’s (KPC) down- The CFP is comprised of the upgrade and
stream-focused subsidiary this week extended 264,000 bpd expansion of Mina Abdullah and
a project management consultancy (PMC) con- the Mina al-Ahmadi refineries to a combined
tract for the emirate’s recently completed refinery capacity of 800,000 bpd. A 264,000 bpd crude
overhaul project. distillation unit (CDU) was brought on stream
The move renews a contract Kuwait National at Mina Abdullah in December, while Petrofac
Petroleum Co. (KNPC) signed with UK-based announced in early May that it had finished
Amec Foster Wheeler for the implementation work on the 50,000 bpd hydrocracking unit 214
of the Clean Fuels Project (CFP) in October at Mina Abdullah.
2012. The British firm became part of the Aber- According to KNPC, the CFP is “a major pil-
deen-headquartered Wood Group in late 2017. lar in KNPC & KPC’s strategy that aims at raising
Quoting sources close to proceedings, the the refining capacity of Kuwait to 1.4mn bpd in
local Al-Anba Arabic language daily said that the medium [term] in addition to fulfilling the
the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) highest possible rate of energy processing at local
had approved KNPC’s request to extend the deal, refineries to meet the local and international
noting that the contract would now run until demand [for] high-quality petroleum products.”
September 2023 because of contractor delays The facilities will come into operation gradu-
executing the CFP which had been expected to ally, with full commissioning envisaged in 2022.
be completed in late 2018, but was not finished Meanwhile, fellow KPC subsidiary Kuwait
until June this year. Integrated Petroleum Industries Co. (KIPIC) is
The sources said: “KNPC has decided that nearing completion on the project it was set up
those contractors must pay for the extension of to manage, the new Al-Zour refinery, which is
the consultancy contract because they were late expected to come on stream in November. Add-
in abiding by the project’s completion date … ing a further 615,000 bpd to Kuwait’s refining
the extension will start from September 24, 2021 capacity, the project is estimated to cost around
until September 23, 2023.” $16.1bn, including the cost of associated petro-
In early June, KNPC announced the com- chemical and LNG facilities.
pletion of a new hydrocracking unit at the Mina Movement on the development has sped up
Abdullah refinery, signalling the finalisation of late and London-listed Technip Energies was
of work on the $15.7bn CFP. Completion of last week awarded a six-year contract for engi-
the works came a month ahead of its updated neering and management services across the
schedule. Al-Zour complex.
KNPC said that work had been finalised on The project was reported to have reached
hydrocracking unit 114, a 70,000 barrel per day 97.83% completion in February.
facility that will produce low-sulphur diesel and KIPIC had set a target commissioning date of
kerosene to meet European standards. The unit late 2020, pushing this back to Q1 2021 because
is located within the wider 454,000 bpd Mina restrictions relating to coronavirus (COVID-19)
Abdullah refinery. slowed progress.™

Week 35 02•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11