Assiut Petroleum Refining Co. (ASORC), a subsidiary of Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC), has let a contract to a subsidiary of Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, for a grassroots unit to be built as part of ASORC’s $1.5-billion modernization program at its 4.5 million-tonne/year refinery in Assiut, Egypt, about 400 km south of Cairo (OGJ Online, Sept. 3, 2014).
Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions will deliver process design and licensing of its proprietary ThruPlus coking technology for the refinery’s new delayed coking unit, Bechtel said.
In addition to meeting ASORC’s aim of increasing refining complexity and efficiency of its Assiut manufacturing site, addition of the delayed coker comes as part of the company’s strategy to eliminate the refinery’s production of heavy fuel oil while simultaneously boosting its output of clean fuels to help meet Upper Egypt’s growing demand, said ASORC Chairman Nagi Abd El-Ghaffar Kassab.
While Bechtel disclosed neither the value nor duration period of the current contract, the service provider did confirm it has previously implemented ThruPlus technology at EGPC subsidiary Middle East Oil Refining Co.’s (Midor) 100,000-b/d refinery in Alexandria.
ASORC, Midor overhauls
ASORC’s modernization project comes as part of EGPC’s broader program to increase production and quality of fuels at both the Assiut and Alexandria refineries (OGJ Online, July 27, 2015).
Last year, EGPC let a contract to Technip Italy SPA to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services on the planned overhaul at Assiut, with a separate contract award to Axens SA, Rueil-Malmaison, France, for a grassroots 660,000-tpy naphtha processing complex to be built as part of the revamp (OGJ Online, June 17, 2015).
In 2014, ASORC secured $198 million in financing from Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the Assiut project, which is to include a 1.4 million-tpy diesel hydrocracking complex to convert lower-quality heavy fuels into LPG, naphtha, kerosine, and gasoline.
EGPC also has let separate contracts to Technip Italy and Honeywell UOP LLC to deliver EPC and technology licensing, respectively, for a $1.4 billion expansion project at Midor’s Alexandria refinery (OGJ Online, Apr. 9, 2015).
Alongside improving quality of fuels produced at the plant, the Midor expansion would increase nameplate crude processing capacity of the refinery to 160,000 b/d as well as boost production of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and LPG.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
