Page 16 - DMEA Week 49

DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA

More issues for Aramco at Jazan

SAUDI ARABIA SAUDI Arabia last week announced a pump in late 2019 ahead of the refinery beginning
malfunction had occurred at Saudi Aramco’s operations.
Aramco said on petroleum derivatives distribution station in the Jazan has been the source of numerous head-
December 2 that its southern Jazan region in another interruption to aches for Aramco. In the company’s annual
technical teams were the state oil firm’s activities there. report, which was released earlier this year, it
working around the On December 2, Aramco said its technical noted: “Saudi Aramco recognised an impair-
clock to fix the technical teams were “working around the clock to fix the ment of SAR13,646mn [$3.6bn] for the year
malfunction as soon as technical malfunction as soon as possible, and ended December 31, 2016 primarily related to
possible. provide the petroleum products that the Jazan the Jazan integrated petrochemical refinery
region needs from the station without interrup- under construction and two existing domestic
tion, as the supply of petroleum products has refineries.”
gradually returned.” Delays were caused when the decision was
Citing merely a ‘technical problem’, the com- taken to change the location of the refinery
pany reported on December 5 that it was back under construction to make way for new export
online. “Works of loading oil derivatives for the facilities. Jazan will have a capacity to produce
station’s customers have resumed after the tech- 209,900 bpd of ultra-low sulphur diesel, 71,400
nical problem was repaired,” it said, providing no bpd of 91 RON and 95 RON gasoline, 48,500 bpd
further details. of high sulphur fuel oil and 6,700 bpd of LPG,
Jazan is home to a new 400,000 barrel per day according to Aramco.
refinery, which is ramping up towards opera- Also located within the ‘Economic City’ is the
tional capacity. According to Aramco, the facil- Jazan Integrated Gas Combined-Cycle (IGCC)
ity will begin processing 200,000 bpd of crude plant, for which Aramco established the $8bn
before doubling that in 2021. Jazan Power JV last year to serve the refinery.
While on this occasion, the issue appears to The JV is 46% owned by Air Products, 25% by
have been a glitch, Aramco’s operations in Jazan ACWA Power, 20% by Saudi Aramco and 9% by
have been plagued by problems, most notably Air Products Qudra.
attacks from the Yemen-based Houthis, as well The private partners are carrying out a
as issues with changes to the facility’s design. design-build contract awarded in 2015 covering
In November, the Ministry of Energy said the air separation unit and oxygen supply facility
that Saudi security forces had foiled the attack – at capacity of 20,000 tpd of oxygen and 55,000
by intercepting and destroying two boats tpd of nitrogen billed as the world’s largest indus-
filled with explosives, though a fire broke out trial gases complex – at the 4,000-MW plant.
at the terminal’s floating hoses without any The remainder of the IGCC project is being
casualties. executed on an EPC basis – with Italy’s Saipem,
Aside from its proximity to Yemen, Jazan is China’s Sepco and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas
also located far from Saudi Arabia’s oil produc- winning the four main packages in 2014. The
tion hub in the Eastern Province. As a result, car- new three-way JV will operate the gasification
goes of crude have arrived by sea, with around and power assets for 25 years from completion,
4mn barrels understood to have been sent there which is scheduled next year. ™

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 10•December•2020