Page 11 - DMEA Week 16 2020

DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA
Qatar’s QP integrates petchem venture
QATAR
The SEEF complex produces up to 100,000 tpy of linear alkyl benzene.
QATAR Petroleum (QP) has integrated petro- chemicals firm SEEF into its operations, in order to bolster the competitiveness of its downstream business, it said on April 19.
SEEF is a joint venture between QP and UDC, a Qatari public shareholding company. It operates a 100,000 tonne per year (tpy) lin- ear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant, located adja- cent to QP’s crude and condensate refinery in Mesaieed.
State-owned petroleum marketer Muntajat markets the LAB, which is used as feedstock to produce detergents. QP said integrating SEEF into the rest of its business would not result in a change in SEEF’s branding.
The SEEF complex can also turn out up to 80,000 tpy of n-paraffin and 36,000 tpy of benzene.
Petrochemical firms in Qatar have been consolidating in recent years to trim costs and become more competitive internationally, at a time when prices are low and the market is crowded with suppliers. Among the major deals,
state-owned Qatar Vinyl merged its operations with Qapco in 2017.
QP values petrochemicals as an alternative source of revenues to its main product LNG. It is looking to expand its petrochemicals capac- ity, having signed a deal last year with US-based Chevron Phillips Chemical to develop a 1.9mn tpy ethane cracker in Ras Laffan. The project fea- tures two high-density polyethylene units with a combined capacity of 1.68mn tpy. They are slated for launch in 2025.
Despite moving into petrochemicals, QP is still forging ahead with an expansion of its LNG production capacity. This month it began drilling at the North Field East project, aimed at boosting its liquefaction capacity from 77mn to 110mn tpy.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Middle Eastern oil and gas exporters are also seeking to branch out into petrochemicals. Saudi Ara- mco plans to gain the edge in export markets by merging its petrochemical business with that of state-owned SABIC. ™
REFINING
Jebel Ali refinery expansion nears end
UAE
The Dubai plant’s capacity will rise from 140,000 to 210,000 bpd.
THE UAE’s state-owned Emirates National Oil (ENOC) is near to finishing its expansion of the Jebel Ali condensate refinery, a project worth more than $1bn, contractor TechnipFMC has said on social media.
The expansion will raise the Dubai plant’s processing capacity from 140,000 to 210,000 barrels per day. TechnipFMC served as engi- neering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider for the project’s new 70,000 bpd con- densate train, an LPG-naphtha hydrotreater, an isomerisation unit, a kerosene hydrotreater and diesel hydrotreater. It did not disclose a time- frame for its commissioning.
Among other contractors involved in the project is Singapore-based Rotary Engineering, which was selected to build 12 tanks to expand the facility’s storage capacity.
The UAE is striving to become self-sufficient in fuel. The population of Dubai alone is expected to reach 5.2mn by 2030, from 2.5mn at current, and ENOC has said it will continue investing in key projects to cover the UAE’s growing fuel con- sumption. It also wants to expand its slate of oil products available for export.
The expansion was originally slated to start
production in the fourth quarter of 2019. Once complete, Jebel Ali will be able to manufacture Euro-5 standard gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.
Built in 1999, Jebel Ali is the smallest of the UAE’s processing plants. The country’s other refineries include Ruwais and Um al-Nar in the Abu Dhabi emirate, and additional plants in the emirates of Sharjah and Fujairah. National refin- ing capacity was estimated by BP at 1.23mn bpd at the end of 2018. ™
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