A report issued by MEED says production at the Al-Zour refinery project is expected to increase significantly over the next six months, as production of low-sulfur fuel oil has been produced from one of the complex’s three refinery units, estimated at $16 billion, stating that each of the units, referred to as small refineries, has a production capacity of about one-third of the refinery complex’s plate capacity of 615,000 barrels per day, especially that all of them are of similar size and have the capacity to process about 200,000 or 220,000 barrels of oil daily.
It is expected that the second small refinery, according to a local Arabic daily, will be operational after that, with the third small refinery expected to be operational three months after the second. Besides producing low sulfur fuel oil, the refinery is also expected to produce naphtha, kerosene and low sulfur diesel.
Another source said, “While the production of low-sulfur fuel oil is stable from one of the small refineries, the production of other refined products is not yet stable. The first mini-refinery is online, and this means that the second and third mini-refineries will be up and running much faster than the first.”
The source explained that “the employees working on the project are looking forward to reaching the full production from the first refinery, as well as from the second and third.”
Earlier this month, MEED revealed that the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) expects to start exporting refined products from the Al-Zour refinery in late October or early November. Al-Zour refinery, which is set to become one of the largest of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region, will produce gasoline, diesel and kerosene in accordance with Euro 5 emission standards.
The project consists of five main packages, where the engineering, procurement and construction contracts were awarded during the second half of 2015. The oil refinery facility was mechanically completed last year, but it faced significant delays during the operation process.
Over recent years, the corona virus and related measures designed to limit the spread of the virus have affected the progress of the project. In November 2020, the project was on track to go online in early 2021.
Last year, KIPIC secured some special travel waivers for essential workers needed to operate the facility to enable the commissioning process to continue moving forward.
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