Yasref awards Yanbu refinery, petchem contract

April 11, 2013
Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co. Ltd. (Yasref) has awarded a 2-year engineering services to SNC-Lavilin Fayez Engineering for the refinery and petrochemical plant under construction at Yanbu on the Red Sea. The company is a Saudi Arabia-registered subsidiary of SNC-Lavilin, Montreal.

Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co. Ltd. (Yasref) has awarded a 2-year engineering services to SNC-Lavilin Fayez Engineering for the refinery and petrochemical plant under construction at Yanbu on the Red Sea. The company is a Saudi Arabia-registered subsidiary of SNC-Lavilin, Montreal.

Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) formed Yasref to build, own, and operate the refinery in Yanbu Industrial City.

The 400,000-b/d, full-conversion refinery will use Arabian Heavy crude oil to produce ultraclean transportation fuels for international and domestic markets as well as high-value refined products, according to Aramco.

Target markets, the company said, are those emerging in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, as well established ones in Europe and the US. Construction is to be completed in June 2014, with start-up in September 2014 and first commercial shipment of refined products in fourth-quarter 2014.

The refinery will use technology supplied by UOP, Chevron Lummis, and ConocoPhillips, said Aramco. It is being configured with the following major units and technologies:

• 400,000-b/d crude distillation unit (open technology).

• 124,000-b/d Chevron Lummis global hydrocracker.

• 177,000-b/d UOP diesel hydrotreater.

• 85,000-b/d UOP naphtha hydrotreater.

• 84,000-b/d UOP continuous catalytic reformer.

• 20,000-b/d UOP isomerization unit.

• 20,000-b/d benzene extraction unit.

• 117,000-b/d ConocoPhillips delayed-coker.

• 262 MMcfd hydrogen generation unit.

• 3,400-tonne/day (tpd) sulfur recovery units.

Refinery products will include 263,000 b/d of diesel, 90,000 b/d of gasoline, 6,200 tpd of petroleum coke, 1,200 tpd of pelletized sulfur, and 140,000 tpd of benzene.

Contact Warren R. True at [email protected].