Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah Refinery will undergo full maintenance until 6 June, according to the refinery’s deputy CEO Mutlaq Rashed Nasser al-Azmi.

The maintenance work, which began on 12 May, is estimated to cost $3m and will cover all units of the refinery.

Efforts are under way “to alter output and exportation plans and meet the needs of local and international markets”, Al-Azmi said in a statement on 27 May.

State-run operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company is currently undertaking an integration of the Mina Abdullah as well as Mina al-Ahmadi refineries to operate with a total capacity of 800,000 barrels a day (b/d).

The Clean Fuels Project, which is nearly 84 per cent complete, will boost the refining capacity of Mina al-Ahmadi to 346,000 b/d and Mina Abdullah to 454,000 b/d, as well as produce clean products that conform to the Euro-4 environmental specifications.

The maintenance has not affected work on the project, added a source.

The $13bn scheme is set to enhance Kuwait’s refining capacity after the Shuaiba refinery was decommissioned in March.

Petrochemical Industries Company, a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, is developing a fourth refinery north of the Al-Zour power station to produce low-sulphur fuel oil to be used in power plants.