Egypt’s ANOPC advances grassroots hydrocracking complex

TechnipFMC PLC has completed all necessary conditions to begin engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) activities under its previously awarded contract by Assiut National Oil Processing Co. (ANOPC)—established in 2018 by Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Assiut Oil Refining Co. (ASORC)—for new units to be installed at ANOPC’s proposed 2.5-million tonnes/year (tpy) grassroots hydrocracking complex in Assiut, Egypt (OGJ Online, July 8, 2020; Oct. 8, 2018).

As of Nov. 30, TechnipFMC said it has now started delivery of EPC services on the following major units for the proposed Assiut hydrocracking complex (AHC):

• Vacuum distillation unit (VDU).
• Diesel hydrocracking unit.
• Delayed coking unit.
• Distillate hydrotreating unit.
• Hydrogen production unit, which will be equipped with TechnipFMC’s proprietary steam-reforming technology.

The service provider’s scope of work under the contract also covers EPC on other unidentified process units, interconnections, off sites, and utilities.

TechnipFMC said it will include the more than $1-billion contract award in its fourth-quarter 2020 inbound orders.

This latest EPC contract for the AHC follows ASORC’s previous award to TechnipFMC for delivery of front-end engineering and design on the project (OGJ Online, Oct. 31, 2018).

Project overview

Intended to support the Egyptian government’s strategy to reduce emissions as well as the country’s current reliance on and associated costs for foreign product imports, ANOPC’s AHC, once in operation, will process 2.5 million tpy of heavy fuel oil (mazut) from ASORC’s nearby 4.5-million tpy Assiut refinery—about 400 km south of Cairo—to produce about 2.8 million tpy of Euro 5-quality diesel and other high-value products.

At a revised total investment of about $2.8 billion, the new hydrocracking complex will produce the following:

• 400,000 tpy of naphtha.
• 100,000 tpy of LPG.
• 300,000 tpy of coke.
• 66,000 tpy of sulfur.

With site preparation works in Assiut for construction of the complex started in 2019, the AHC currently remains scheduled for startup in 2022.