Al Zour Refinery

History

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) first released plans to build what would have been the country's fourth oil refinery in May 2006 before construction was postponed in March 2008 due to political opposition. Two years later, however, the government re-approved construction, and the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company was created to manage its operations after 2019.

Initial plan

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company released plans to construct the refinery in July 2007. In May 2008, it awarded construction contracts; the largest contract was granted to a consortium of Japan's JGC Corporation and South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction, covering the installation of six distillation and atmospheric residue desulphurisation units, and diesel, naphtha, and kerosene hydrotreating plants. Korea's SK Engineering & Construction was charged with constructing the hydrogen plants, as well as the compression and sulphur recovery units; Daelim Industrial was to construct storage tanks; and Hyundai Engineering and Construction was to be responsible for the marine works. U.S. engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation was awarded the offsites and utilities contract. KNPC announced that it would be operational in 2012 and that it planned on spending approximately $14 billion on the project. The refinery is expected to have a capacity of 615000 oilbbl/d, which would have made it the largest refinery in the Middle East. |url-status=dead

Initial cancellation

In March 2009, the Kuwaiti government informed the contractors to halt construction, citing a drop in oil prices. Some investment analysts predicted the project's cancellation as early as December 2008. Furthermore, the project encountered political opposition by lawmakers who claimed that the government had not consulted the Central Tenders Committee before awarding contracts to foreign companies.

However, in June 2011, the Supreme Petroleum Council—Kuwait's oil agency—re-approved construction of the refinery in Al Ahmadi, Kuwait. Construction had been halted due to financial concerns and political wrangling, but the Oil Minister affirmed that Kuwait was indeed moving forward with the refinery that would be able to process 615,000 barrels of oil per day. The estimated cost is $14.5 billion, or 4 billion dinars. In May 2012 Kuwait's three existing refineries produced 930,000 barrels per day.

Relaunch

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company announced that it would relaunch a tender in June 2012. The majority of EPC contracts were issued to Fluor, Daewoo, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Tecnicas Reunidas, Sinopec, Hanwha Engineering and Construction, SK Engineering, Amec (Wood) and Saipem, amongst others. Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company was created to manage the operations.

Finally, the first phase of Al-Zour integrated refining and petrochemical complex has been commissioned in January 2023. All three phases of the refinery are commissioned successfully.

References

References

1. (16 December 2019). "Sinopec completes main unit of the Middle East's largest refinery". Hydrocarbon Processing.
2. (24 August 2016). "Largest Refinery Project in the Middle East". Process Worldwide.
3. (16 March 2021). "Start-up of Kuwait's al-Zour refinery still months off". [[Argus Media]].
4. (1 May 2017). "Al-Zour refinery strategic project of Kuwait 2035 Vision". Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
5. Talal Aljiran; Walid Alkandari. (13 October 2019). "Site Preparation & Soil remediation for Kuwait's Largest Environmental Friendly oil Refinery, by Utilizing Dredging & Soil Compaction".
6. Ellie Pritchard. (22 June 2021). "Al-Zour: Kuwait's vision of becoming an international hub in the Middle East".
7. (14 December 2019). "Feature: Kuwait's refinery project showcases Chinese concept of "win-win cooperation"".
8. (8 May 2012). "Kuwait to tender for oil refinery in June-official". Thomson Reuters.
9. Ackerman, Ruthie. (20 March 2009). "Kuwait Fluor Deal Falls Through". Forbes.
10. Daley, Will. (20 March 2009). "Fluor Says Kuwait Halts $2.1 Billion in Refinery Work (Update4)". Bloomberg.
11. MacDonald, Fiona. (28 June 2011). "Kuwait May Tap Private Investors for $14.5 Billion Refinery". Bloomberg Businessweek.
12. "KIPIC: Al Zour Refinery". KIPIC.
13. (29 July 2015). "KNPC Awards Contracts worth US$11.5bn for al-Zour Refinery". Middle East Oil Review.
14. https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/article/14288157/kuwaits-new-alzour-refinery-enters-commercial-operation