Page 18 - DMEA Week 29

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Six firms in running for consultant

role at Kuwaiti refinery

KUWAIT SIX international contractors are vying for tech- kerosene that can be exported.
nical consultant work at Kuwait’s al-Ahmadi oil KNPC finished a biofuels expansion at the
Kuwait wants to double refinery, Arabic daily al-Anba reported on July al-Ahmadi refinery back in April, involving the
its refining capacity by 20, citing sources at Kuwait National Petroleum fitting of two extra production units – one for
2025. Co. (KNPC). coal and one for naphtha hydrotreating – that
The six are: US firms Worley Parsons, Fluor will produce 37,000 and 8,400 barrels of oil
and KBR; the UK’s Amec Fosters Wheeler, equivalent per day (boepd) respectively. Earlier,
Japan’s Toyo and France’s Technip. Bids will be in December 2019, KNPC commissioned a new
taken until September 24, according to al-Anba. clean diesel production unit at the site.
KNPC will host an online meeting with rep- The 615,000 bpd newbuild refinery at al-Zour
resentatives of these pre-qualified firms to assess had been due on stream in the fourth quarter of
their bids on August 3, the newspaper reported. this year. But several of the services suppliers and
Kuwait is modernising its al-Ahmadi and contractors that have been hired are understood
Abdullah refineries, and is constructing a new to have invoked forces majeure, citing restric-
one in the southern port of al-Zour, although tions on movement and the supply of equip-
this project is reportedly facing delays. Its goal ment and materials because of the coronavirus
is to double its throughput capacity to 1.6mn (COVID-19) pandemic.
barrels per day (bpd) by 2025, and produce KNPC confirmed some delays to work at
more higher-value products such as diesel and al-Ahmadi as a result of the virus back in April.™

Green Petrochem to expand

storage in Sharjah

UAE UAE downstream player Green Petrochem has ago and now boasts a refining capacity of 2.1mn
announced plans to expand its storage capacity barrels per day (bpd). Its products include naph-
Gren Petrochem is a in the coastal Hamriyah free zone, in the Sharjah tha, kerosene, gasoil, fuel oil and speciality sol-
major refiner. emirate. The company has signed an agreement vents such as aliphatic hydrocarbon, white spirit,
with the zone’s authority to lease an extra 18,600 mineral turpentine oil, solvent naphtha and
square metres of land for the project. other chemicals.
Green Petrochem wants to build additional At the UAE’s port of Fujairah, operator
storage facilities elsewhere, with the aim of Brooge Energy is working on a much larger
raising its capacity to 150,000 cubic metres. It expansion of its storage facilities, aiming to raise
said the expansion was in response to increas- their capacity by 3.5mn cubic metres. ™
ing demand for its products. The company is
involved in oil trading, lubricant sales, oil refin-
ing and marine bunkering.
“Despite the tough economic circumstances
that we are going through, the company decided
to expand its operations in the free zone,” the
head of the Hamriyah authority, Saud Salim Al
Mazrouei, said in a statement. Green Petrochem’s
decision was “testament” to the Sharjah emirate’s
status as a leading global hub for businesses.
“We are not only providing an easy access
to regional and international markets, but also
offering competitive advantages, which would
help investors reach a large customer base in the
fastest, most efficient and cost-effective way,” he
said.
Green Petrochem was established six years

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 23•July•2020