KNPC commissions new unit at Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery

Kuwait National Petroleum Corp. (KNPC) has started production of ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD) at its 466,000-b/d Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, about 28 miles south of Kuwait City on the Persian Gulf, as part of Kuwait’s ongoing Clean Fuels Project (CFP) at KNPC refineries (OGJ Online, Apr. 17, 2014).

Commissioned in December 2019, the new clean-diesel production unit can produce 45,000 b/d of ULSD, the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

KNPC said estimated diesel production from the new unit will have a sulfur content of about 10 ppm, according to KUNA.

One of many new units planned for the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery as part of the CFP, the ULSD unit forms part of KNPC’s strategy to meet growing demand on local and international markets for cleaner and more sustainable fuels, according to the operator’s latest sustainability report to investors.

KNPC also recently commissioned the first diesel production unit at its 270,000-b/d Mina Abdullah refinery in southern Kuwait, the company said on Sept. 2, 2019. With start-up of the new 73,000-b/d U-216 unit now completed, KNPC said it expects ULSD production at Mina Abdullah refinery to reach 146,000 b/d following completion of the new U-116 unit already under construction as part of the complex’s CFP expansion work.

Alongside increasing crude processing capacities at Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi, the CFP also includes work to transform the refineries into an integrated 800,000-b/d merchant refining complex under Kuwait’s 2030 strategy to enhance growth in its refining and manufacturing sectors and upgrade its refineries to produce clean-burning fuels conforming to Euro 5 standards (OGJ Online, Nov. 28, 2017).

Separately, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co. continues to near the end of construction of its grassroots 615,000-b/d Al-Zour integrated refining complex, which forms a cornerstone of Kuwait’s original CPF launched in 2013 (OGJ Online, Dec. 16, 2019; Jan. 22, 2018; Apr. 1, 2013).

Capacity of the new refinery at Al Zour in southern Kuwait, which will mainly supply low-sulfur fuel to Kuwaiti power plants and yield products for export, will be 615,000 b/d. Previously scheduled for start-up by yearend 2019, the refinery recently received the final 8,600-tonne module shipment for the project from Fluor Corp. joint venture COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (COOEC-Fluor), according to a Dec. 24, 2019, release from the service company.

COOEC-Fluor delivered 188 modules—a key component in KIPIC’s overall execution strategy for the refining complex—in 20 separate shipments with a combined weight of 65,000 tonnes. In addition, COOEC-Fluor’s fabrication yard in Zhuhai, China, manufactured more than 95,000 pipe spools of carbon, alloy, and stainless-steel pipe which will be installed by the project team at the site, Fluor said.

A definitive timeframe for Al-Zour’s start-up, however, has yet to be revealed.

As part of the CFP downstream initiative, KNPC also shuttered its aging 200,000-b/d Shuaiba refinery on Apr. 1, 2017, (OGJ Online, July 31, 2017).