CB&I, Houston, has confirmed details of its previously awarded contract to deliver engineering and procurement for Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) subsidiary ADNOC Refining’s (formerly Takreer) $3.1-billion project to increase crude processing flexibility and improve margins at the 417,000-b/d West plant of the more than 800,000-b/d Ruwais refining complex in the UAE (OGJ Online, Feb. 8, 2018).
As part of its more than $500-million portion of a contract jointly awarded with Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd., CB&I will provide EP services for two atmospheric residue desulfurization units, which will be equipped with technology licensed by CB&I-Chevron Corp. joint venture Chevron Lummus Global, the service provider said.
Additionally, CB&I’s scope of work will include the engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction of 14 flat-bottom tanks and 10 process heaters for the crude flexibility project (CFP), according to CB&I.
Part of ADNOC’s program to accelerate downstream strategy delivery, the CFP will enable the Ruwais West plant to process up to 420,000 b/d of Upper Zakum crude or similar medium-sour crude types from the market in lieu of fellow UAE-produced, light, sweet Murban crude.
Increased crude-processing flexibility at the refinery, in turn, will free higher-priced Murban crude for export sales to global oil markets to help UAE garner greater returns from its domestically produced oil resources.
ADNOC’s multibillion-dollar investment in crude-quality arbitrage at Ruwais follows the operator’s late-2017 announcement that it will boost production capacity of supergiant Upper Zakum offshore field by 350,000 b/d to 1 million b/d (OGJ Online, Nov. 15, 2017).
ADNOC said it expects to complete the CFP by yearend 2022.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
