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The Ministry of Oil organizes a panel discussion entitled "Al-Zour Refinery... the largest oil refinery in the world"

29-05-2023

Sheikha Tamader Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah: Al-Zour Refinery is one of the largest projects in the oil sector and is one of the most important pillars of Kuwait's strategy for the year 2040 • Abdullah Al-Kandari: 410 thousand barrels per day, the refining capacity of Al-Zour refinery.. Work is underway to prepare the third mini-refinery for the pre-operational stage • Rawa Bouftin: Al-Zour Refinery products have now reached 18 countries around the world through 68 oil shipments Today, Monday, May 29, 2023, the Ministry of Oil organized a panel discussion entitled "Al-Zour Refinery... the largest refinery for draining and refining oil in the world", in which Eng. Abdullah Muhammad Al-Kandari, Head of the Planning Team, in the Comprehensive Planning Group at KIPIC, and Eng. Rawa Bouftin, Senior Engineer, lectured. Planning - Comprehensive Planning Group, KIPIC Company, which was attended by technical and economic affairs staff at the Ministry of Oil, guests from the Environment Public Authority, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and media professionals. At the beginning of the panel discussion, the Director of Public Relations and Information at the Ministry of Oil, Sheikha Tamader Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, welcomed the attendees, and said that Al-Zour refinery is one of the largest projects in the oil sector and is one of the most important pillars of KPC’s strategy, given the significant and pivotal role assigned to it in shaping the future of the oil industry. Inside the country by promoting exports of high-quality oil derivatives that conform to international standards. She stated that the Al-Zour refinery guarantees a safe and stable supply of clean fuel supplies to power plants in Kuwait, and that with the completion of the construction of the Al-Zour refinery, it will make it one of the largest refineries in the world with a refining capacity of 615 thousand barrels per day, noting that the refinery has high flexibility because it is designed to process various types of oil. different from Kuwaiti crude oil. Sheikha Tamader Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah praised the exceptional role played by national expertise and Kuwaiti youth in the operations of establishing Al-Zour refinery, which was qualified according to the highest professional levels in leading and implementing operations in the most difficult circumstances that passed through the whole world, represented by the Corona pandemic and what coincided with it in the closure of ports. And airports around the world to prevent the spread of the epidemic. She concluded by saying, "Al-Zour refinery represents a major driver for the growth of the oil sector and the Kuwaiti economy as a whole, maximizing the state's oil revenues, and a major energy supplier in Kuwait and global markets." Self-sufficiency In addition, Engineer Abdullah Muhammad Al-Kandari, Head of the Planning Team, in the Comprehensive Planning Group at KIPIC, said that the main objectives of the Al-Zour refinery project focus on achieving local self-sufficiency in energy, reducing sulfur oxides emissions from power stations, and the ability to refine Kuwait's heavy oil and produce high-quality petroleum products. Quality conforms to the standards required in the global market, as well as creating new job opportunities for national labor. Al-Kandari stated that the most important characteristic of the Al-Zour refinery is that it is the largest refinery in the world in terms of capacity that is constructed in one stage. It is also a vital port for draining heavy oils. The refinery also includes the largest complex for desulfurization units from the oil left over from the air distillation unit in the world. To produce high-quality diesel with a very low sulfur content, indicating that the Al-Zour refinery recycles and uses all the waste water used in the refinery resulting from the refinery operations by applying the non-discharge fluid technology in order to preserve the marine environment. On what has been achieved in the Al-Zour Refinery project, he said that some petroleum products were imported from the Kuwait National Petroleum Company to contribute to accelerating the initial operation, with full support from the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and it also carried out the trial operation of the first crude oil distillation unit, which started on May 11, 2022. The unit is capable of refining 2.5 million barrels of crude oil, thus securing an important and major stock of oil derivatives that contributed to the smooth operation of the rest of the units. Al-Kandari indicated that the initial operation of all units of the first mini-refinery was completed in September 2022, and the commercial operation of the Al-Zour refinery began in November 2022, and the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) received the first tanker in the port of the industrial island of the Al-Zour refinery on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 to load The first shipment of naphtha and its export to the Chinese company "Trafigura", marking the commercial inauguration of Al-Zour refinery and the expansion of oil exports to global markets. He revealed that the total production capacity of the Al-Zour refinery increased to 410,000 barrels per day, with the success of operating the second refinery in March 2023, and the first solid sulfur ship was received to export the first shipments of solid sulfur from the Al-Zour refinery in March 2023, and work is currently underway to prepare the third mini-refinery for the phase pre-running. 18 countries For her part, Engineer Rawa Bouftin, Senior Planning Engineer - Comprehensive Planning Group, KIPIC Company, said that Al-Zour Refinery products currently reach 18 countries around the world through 68 oil shipments. Bovetin addressed the importance of the human element. KIPIC is keen on the national human element as the key to excellence and one of the pillars of the oil industry and its renaissance in the State of Kuwait. It is one of the most important pillars of the KPC strategy for the year 2040, which is based on building Kuwaiti human cadres and qualifying them with high skills and raising their efficiency. And giving it the opportunity for creativity, development and giving. The company is also keen to provide mechanisms that guarantee job opportunities for its children through the establishment of new development projects. She stated that Al-Zour Refinery provided many job opportunities for the Kuwaiti workforce, including recent graduates, supporting and developing them to be able to operate the company’s assets and future projects, and based on the company’s relentless endeavor to Kuwaitize technical and administrative jobs, and through the plans and policies adopted by the company, the percentage of Kuwaitization reached 95%. She pointed out that the future plan for Al-Zour Refinery is that the Integrated Petroleum Company is responsible for building, operating and managing the Al-Zour complex, which is considered one of the largest petroleum complexes in the region, as it includes both the Al-Zour refinery and a petrochemical complex and the first permanent facilities in Kuwait to import liquefied natural gas. In draining heavy Kuwaiti oils, the refinery's transformational capacity will also be raised to enable it to produce oil derivatives with high added value. She concluded her speech by saying that Al-Zour refinery is the largest refinery in the world to be built in one phase, and the approved cost of the project amounted to 4.871 billion dinars, which was approved by the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation in July 2015, and the Al-Zour refinery project is considered one of the most important pillars of the strategic plan of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation 2040. Kuwait's vision is "New Kuwait". This project aims to provide fuel oil with low sulfur content (1% or less) for the electric power generation stations of the Ministry of Electricity and Water, and the production of petroleum derivatives for global marketing. Al-Zour refinery is characterized by its flexibility as it can refine varying degrees of oil. Accordingly, its refining capacity ranges from 615 thousand barrels per day as a maximum when refining Kuwaiti light export crude (KEC) or 535 thousand barrels per day for a mixture of heavy oils from Kuwaiti export crude.