Egyptian refiner lets contract for new hydrocracking complex

Oct. 8, 2018
Assiut Oil Refining Co., a subsidiary of Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., through a contractor, has let a 4-year contract to WorleyParsons Ltd. to provide project management consultancy for the Assiut hydrocracking complex in Upper Egypt.

Assiut Oil Refining Co. (ASORC), a subsidiary of Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC), through a contractor, has let a 4-year contract to WorleyParsons Ltd. to provide project management consultancy (PMC) for the Assiut hydrocracking complex (AHC) in Upper Egypt.

As part of the contract—awarded by ASORC subsidiary Assiut National Oil Processing Co. (ANOPC)—WorleyParsons will oversee the basic engineering phase, open-book estimate, detailed design, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the AHC project, the service provider said on Oct. 8.

The new complex—which comes as part of the government’s program to upgrade refining capacity and efficiency in the Upper Egypt area—will convert 2.5 million tonnes/year of heavy fuel oil into high-quality petroleum products such as diesel, LPG, naphtha, kerosine, and gasoline (OGJ Online, July 27, 2015).

Announced by Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum (MOP) in July, the more-than £33-million (Egp.) AHC will thermally crack heavy oils (mazut) to produce 1.6 million tpy of low-sulfur, Euro 5-quality fuels, as well as 402,000 tpy of naphtha and 101,000 tpy of LPG.

ASORC, which operates the 4.5 million-tpy Assiut refinery in Asyut, about 400 km south of Cairo, awarded ANOPC a contract for construction of the complex in July, according to MOP and local media reports.

Further details regarding the project have yet to be disclosed.