Page 7 - AsianOil Week 34 2021

AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil

Japan formalises funding

for Basra refinery work

FINANCE & JAPAN this week formalised a previous agree-
INVESTMENT ment to provide a low-interest loan to Iraq for
the Basra Refinery Upgrading Project (BRUP)
on which work began earlier this year.
Speaking with his Iraqi counterpart during
a meeting in Baghdad this week, Japanese For- It added: “the project to construct Iraq’s first-
eign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that Tokyo ever FCC complex will unleash the potential
would extend up to $300mn in loans to assist of Iraq’s refining sector to produce the larger
with the project, which will increase refining volume of the high-value outputs, promote the
capacity from the current level of 210,000 barrels transfer of refining technologies from Japan and
per day to 280,000 bpd. help save valuable foreign currencies [needed] to
Funding will be provided by the Japan Inter- import huge amount of fuels”.
national Cooperation Agency (JICA) and fol- The MoO has previously said that capacity
lows a mid-2019 agreement with Iraq’s Ministry would be expanded to 300,000 bpd. The latest
of Finance for a $1bn loan to upgrade the refin- expansion follows successful completion in
ery, which was built in the 1970s. January 2020 of a project to expand the Shuaiba
In October last year state-owned South Refin- facility from 140,000 bpd by Czech firm Tech-
eries Co. (SRC) awarded a $3.75bn engineering, noexport under an EPC contract awarded in
procurement and construction (EPC) to Japan’s 2015, which also covered increasing the output
JGC to build a new fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) of higher-quality fuels.
complex on land adjacent to the existing refinery Technoexport completed the installation of
at Shuaiba. a crude distillation unit at the facility in 2013
At that point, JICA said it had concluded and of a catalytic reformer in 2007, and has also
three loans for the project – a first tranche of worked on several projects at the Daura refinery
$379mn, a second tranche of $994mn and near Baghdad and for NRC – the operator of the
$19mn for engineering services. beleaguered Baiji refinery.™

OCEANIA

Santos awards Dorado FEED contracts

PROJECTS & AUSTRALIAN independent Santos awarded Santos managing director and CEO Kevin
COMPANIES a couple of front-end engineering and design Gallagher said: “The FPSO design will provide
(FEED) contracts this week for the first phase of for the integrated development of both the liq-
development on its shallow-water Dorado devel- uids and the gas resource and retains sufficient
opment offshore Western Australia. flexibility to support future nearby exploration
The company said on August 23 that it had success. A contract for the design, supply and
awarded a contract for the floating production, installation of the WHP will be awarded soon.”
storage and offloading (FPSO) facility to Altera Sapura Energy, meanwhile, will design,
and then revealed on August 26 that it had also construct and install the WHP, which will be
awarded a contract for the field’s wellhead plat- remotely operated from the FPSO.
form (WHP) to Sapura Energy. Gallagher said: “This contract for the [WHP]
Santos is developing the Dorado oil and gas is the project’s last significant commitment as
field, which is located in the Bedout sub-basin, we progress towards a project final investment
over two stages. The initial phase of development decision [FID] around the middle of next year.”
will involve producing oil and condensate via The executive added that the WHP’s design
the WHP and FPSO, with gas to be reinjected to allowed for the integrated development of both
enhance recovery. A second phase will later see the gas and liquids resource while retaining suf-
gas production used to backfill Santos’ domestic ficient flexibility to support future exploration
gas infrastructure in WA. success. Gallagher noted that the Pavo and Apus
The developer said it expected Altera to begin prospects would be drilled in early 2022.
full definition engineering to confirm the tech- Santos operates the Dorado project with an
nical requirements for the FPSO and associated 80% interest, with Carnarvon Petroleum hold-
disconnectable mooring system. ing the remainder.™

Week 34 26•August•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7