State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) subsidiary Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) is considering construction of a new refinery in the south of the country.
Mohammed al-Mutairi, KNPC’s chief executive officer, said the proposed refinery comes as part of the country’s plan to expand its current crude processing capacity to achieve the country’s long-term sustainability goals, according to a Dec. 16 release from Kuwait’s Ministry of Oil.
Mutairi said the country also is considering expanding capacity to produce more environmentally friendly fuels as part of Kuwait’s Clean Fuels Projects (CFP) under implementation at its existing refineries, as well as at recently formed KPC subsidiary Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co.’s grassroots 615,000-b/d Al-Zour integrated refining complex now under construction as part of the CFP in southern Kuwait.
Further details regarding the new refinery project and CFP capacity expansions were not disclosed.
The first unit of the Al-Zour refinery is scheduled to be completed by May 2019, with pipelines for delivery of feedstock to the refinery to be ready by October 2019 (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2018; Jan. 22, 2018).
Through KNPC, KPC also operates the 466,000-b/d Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery about 28 miles south of Kuwait City on the Persian Gulf, and the 270,000-b/d Mina Abdullah refinery, both of which are undergoing modernization and expansion works to transform into an integrated 800,000-b/d merchant refining complex as part of KNPC’s CFP under Kuwait’s 2030 strategy, which aims to enhance growth in its refining manufacturing sectors as well as upgrade the refineries to produce clean-burning fuels conforming to Euro 5 standards (OGJ Online, Oct. 27, 2016; Apr. 1, 2013).
