KPC lets prefeasibility study for Kuwaiti refining capacity expansions

Kuwait Petroleum Corp. and its subsidiaries have let a contract to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, to deliver a prefeasibility study to support downstream capacity expansions in Kuwait in support of KPC’s long-term strategic plans and directions up to 2040.

As part of the contract, which includes the option of proceeding to a detailed feasibility study, Jacobs will evaluate how domestic Kuwaiti refining capacity can be expanded in a cost-effective way that will enable the refineries to provide advantaged feedstocks for integrated petrochemical production, the service provider said.

The studies will cover evaluation and optimization of alternative process configurations using an integrated linear program model, various technical studies, licensor evaluation, cost estimation, financial modeling, and risk assessment and management, with a focus on increasing refining capacity and optimum petrochemical integration, Jacobs said.

Jacobs did not disclose further details regarding the contract or the specific projects to be included as part of the study.

KPC, through its subsidiary Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC), 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 Clean Fuels Project (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, Feb. 14, 2018; Nov. 28, 2017).

Through recently formed subsidiary Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co. (KIPIC), KPC also owns the grassroots 615,000-b/d Al-Zour integrated refining complex under construction as part of the CFP in southern Kuwait, the first unit of which is scheduled to be completed by May 2019, with pipelines for delivery of feedstock to the refinery to be ready by October 2019, according to a recent presentation from KPC (OGJ Online, Jan. 22, 2018).

KPC most recently said it expects to start up the remainder of the CFP in May.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].