Bahrain advances refinery modernization

Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco) has let a contract to Chevron Lummus Global (CLG), a joint venture of CB&I and Chevron Corp., for technology and engineering as part of the planned expansion and upgrade of the 267,000-b/d refinery at Sitra, on Bahrain’s eastern coast.

CLG will provide licensing for its proprietary LC-Fining and isocracking technologies as well as engineering design packages for the new residue hydrocracking and vacuum gas oil hydrocracking units included in the refinery’s modernization program, CB&I said.

The contract is valued at more than $100 million, CB&I said.

The current contract builds on CLG’s history of providing the Bapco refinery with hydroprocessing technologies and catalysts to produce clean transportation fuels and lubricant base oils from heavy oil for past projects, said Daniel McCarthy, president of CB&I’s technology operating group.

In June, Bapco let an $82.8 million contract to CLG to prepare an engineering design package for the new residue hydrocracking unit at the refinery, according to a public notice from Bahrain’s government (OGJ Online, Sept. 16, 2014).

A major modernization, the project aims to enhance the refinery’s configuration and profitability by increasing its crude processing capacity to 360,000 b/d and improving its yield of products.

In its 2012 annual report, Bahrain’s National Oil & Gas Authority (NOGA) said the refinery modernization program—which will take close to 6 years to complete in a series of phases—is one of the main structural projects of government’s plan to develop the country’s oil and gas sector and generate increased financial returns for the national economy.

The modernization will include the staged implementation of at least five units, including a residue hydrocracker, vacuum gas oil hydrocracker, diesel hydrotreater, sulfur recovery unit, and delayed coker.