Page 11 - DMEA Week 08 2020

DMEA REFINING DMEA
Aramco to shut down top refinery
SAUDI ARABIA
The refinery has a 550,000 bpd capacity.
SAUDI Aramco is due to close its largest oil refinery for five or six weeks starting June 1, the plant’s general manager Fawwaz Nawwab told Reuters on February 23.
The 550,000 barrel per day (bpd) Ras Tanura plant on the Gulf shore covers more than a quar- ter of the kingdom’s fuel supply. It will close down completely so that new units can be connected and older ones refitted, Nawwab said.
Ras Tanura is undergoing a $2.4bn overhaul, aimed at cutting the sulphur content of its motor fuels. New equipment has already arrived on site, and a new 200-metre high flare is being built. The project also involves the addition of several new units including a 90,000 bpd continuous catalytic reforming unit, which Saudi Aramco says is the largest of its kind.
Once the reform is online Ras Tanura will no longer export naphtha, instead producing more gasoline and lighter fuels for domestic
consumption. It ships around 40,000 bpd of naphtha abroad, typically to refiners in South Korea and sometimes to Japan and Taiwan, according to Nawwab. Last year most of the sup- plies went to the Onsan in South Korea, accord- ing to Refinitiv, where a Saudi-owned refinery is situated.
Following the upgrades, all gasoline pro- duced at Ras Tanura will comply with the EU’s Euro-5 standard, in preparation for the adoption of higher fuel specifications across the kingdom. It will also turn out ultra-low sulphur diesel, which complies with new International Mari- time Organisation (IMO) rules on maritime fuel emissions.
Most of Ras Tanura’s motor fuels are sold locally, although its position next to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest oil export terminals makes overseas shipments an option as well. But at present there is no plan to export more of the refinery’s fuel. ™
Banks seek advisor role for Egyptian refining IPO
EGYPT
Egypt plans to hold a series of IPOs at state companies.
JPMORGAN Chase & Co., Citigroup and Gold- man Sachs are among the banks vying for a con- tract to advise Egypt’s Arab Refining on its initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reported on February 26.
Also competing are EFG Hermes Holding, HSBC Holdings and Renaissance Capital, a source told the news agency. Arab Refining will select as many as three banks as consultants in the second quarter of 2020. They will advise on details such as how much of a stake Arab Refin- ing will offer up to investors.
As of press time none of the banks mentioned in the report had commented.
The IPO at Arab Refining, a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings SAE, is one in a series of offer- ings planned in Egypt this year, providing its ail- ing stock exchange with a jolt of liquidity. Cairo
unveiled a programme three years ago to sell stakes in major state-owned enterprises, as part of broader efforts to strengthen its economy. But plans stalled and there have been no new listings in two years.
The programme is set to resume in March, when the government will offer up shares in three state firms, including Egyptian lender Ban- que du Caire.
Arab Refining is due to make its debut in the fourth quarter. It is the owner of 67% of Egyp- tian Refining, which recently built a multi-bil- lion dollar refinery near Cairo. Qalaa has said it wants to retain a controlling stake in the com- pany through an agreement with shareholders.
Qalaa’s power generation arm Taqa Arabia is also preparing to go public. It helped develop a major solar power complex in Upper Egypt.™
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