Preem advances Lysekil refinery expansion project
Swedish refiner Preem AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of Corral Petroleum Holdings AB, Stockholm, is progressing with its previously announced plan to expand vacuum distillation capacity at its 11.4-million tonne/year refinery at Lysekil, Sweden.
With delivery of the 37-m long tower that will form the heart of Lysekil’s vacuum distillation unit (VDU) completed in mid-August, the refinery is scheduled to receive the VDU’s furnance—the project’s final piece of major equipment—in October, Preem said.
With a revised estimated cost of 1.6 billion kronor (Swedish) from its earlier 1.5-billion kronor price tag, the VDU expansion remains on schedule to be completed in 2018, the company said.
Granted environmental clearance to proceed from regional regulators in July 2016, the proposed project will add a second VDU to supplement the refinery’s existing 64,600-b/d VDU to increase the plant’s production of vacuum gas oil (VGO) and eliminate Preem’s current monthly VGO import requirements of about 50,000 cu m.
The VDU expansion at Lysekil also will position the refinery to maximize its current crude through capacity, as well as enable it to upgrade residual oil from other refineries in the region, Preem said.
Planned with a nameplate capacity to process 215-240 cu m/hr of residual oil, the VDU will increase the Lysekil refinery’s VGO production capacity by about 50% from current production rates, according to official project documents.
In 2016, Preem let a contract to Amec Foster Wheeler to provide engineering, procurement, and construction management for the Lysekil VDU expansion.
Aramco, SABIC open engineering bids for complex
Bidding has begun for engineering work on a USD 20-billion crude oil-to-chemicals (COTC) complex in Saudi Arabia, international media reported on Thursday.
The project, the first development to be jointly led by Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), will involve the construction of several plants to process Arabian Light and Extra Light crude oil.
Yanbu and Jubail have been named as potential sites for the complex.
The COTC complex will host a 400,000-bpd integrated crude distillation and vacuum unit, a distillate hydrotreater, a vacuum gas oil hydrocracker, a residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, a mixed feed cracker, as well as polyethylene, polypropylene, butadiene and aromatics recovery units, according to Reuters.
While Thursday’s news was not confirmed by either company, a source told the news agency that bidding for the engineering segment would close on September 25, and commissioning on the plant is expected by the end of 2024.
Construction on $10.6B Petrochemicals Project to Begin by June'18
Egypt’s Carbon Holdings Company plans to begin construction on its Tahrir petrochemicals project by June 2018, the company’s CEO, Basil El Baz, told Reuters.
With an investment cost of $10.6 billion, the Tahrir project will be the largest petrochemical investment in the country, El Baz noted, adding that it will contribute to the doubling of Egypt’s petrochemical exports.
The project will be based in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and aims to produce the raw materials Egypt’s industrial sector needs, according to Egypt Today.
“Why haven’t all these foreign multinationals that keep making visits to Egypt every month started manufacturing? … What it comes down to is that there are no raw materials,” El-Baz said.
Initial output from the project will be exported, but, as production grows, El Baz believes that domestic and international manufacturing firms will consider investing closer to the project’s production facilities.
Construction at the site is estimated to take five years.
ALSF Weighs in On Uganda's Oil Refinery Project
In late July, Uganda chose a consortium, including General Electric Co., to build and operate a crude oil refinery, which will eventually process oil from fields being developed by Total SA and Tullow Oil Plc.
The African Legal Support facility (ALSF) is involved in the negotiations of the project's framework agreement at the instance of the Ugandan authorities, following the selection of a consortium to develop the US$4 billion facility when negotiations with groups led by Russia's RT Global Resources LLC and South Korea's SK Engineering & Construction Co. were inconclusive. Thus, in view of the urgent need for legal counsel, due to previously-scheduled and fast-approaching negotiations, the Facility approved a grant for emergency technical support on 14 June 2017 to consolidate and enhance the process.
Staff of the ALSF will attend the first round of negotiations between the Ugandan Government and the selected Consortium, scheduled to take place from 21 to 25 August. These negotiations will hopefully produce a Project Framework Agreement with well-elaborated timelines and apportioned responsibilities.
Peter Muliisa of the Uganda National Oil Company explained: "The support which the ALSF has extended to Uganda in negotiations leading to the development of a refinery has been invaluable. The legal, commercial, and technical expertise provided has enriched the negotiation team and greatly enhanced the project implementation speed."
The refinery, located in Hoima district in the Western region, is billed to double its crude processing capacity from 30,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. Beginning in 2020, the plant will be supplied by fields with over 6.5 billion barrels of crude, being exploited by Total, London-based Tullow and China's Cnooc Ltd.
Rosneft, investment consortium close on Essar Oil purchase
Rosneft PJSC and an investment consortium have each completed the purchase of 49.13% stakes in Essar Oil Ltd. The investment consortium is comprised of UCP Investment Group and Trafigura, a physical commodities trading group.
The $12.9-billion sale of 98.26% of Essar Oil was announced by controlling shareholders Essar Energy Holdings Ltd. and Oil Bidco (Mauritius) Ltd. Plans for the deal were announced in fall 2016 (OGJ Online, Oct. 17, 2016).
Essar Oil assets include the Vadinar refinery in the Indian state of Gujarat and a retail network of more than 3,500 Essar-branded fuel stations across India. Also part of the transaction are a deepwater port, storage terminals, and an electric power station.
The Vadinar refinery started commercial production in 2008. In 2012 it was expanded to 20 million tonnes/year and its Nelson complexity index increased to 11.8 from 6.1. The 97-m crude column is Asia’s tallest.
The refinery has been designed to handle a diverse range of crude. Heavy grades from Latin America account for more than half of all feedstock processed.