Kuwait seeks interest in sulphur handling facility

27 September 2011

State firm plans estimated $700m sulphur handling plant at Mina al-Ahmadi refinery

State refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has invited contractors to a meeting where it will present plans for an estimated $700m sulphur handling facility at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery.

Some 20 international and local engineering firms were invited to attend the meeting on 28 September so KNPC can gauge interest in the scheme.

Germany’s Thyssen Krupp completed the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the facility in mid-September, so engineering, procurement and construction contract tenders are expected to be launched in the first half of 2012, say contractor sources in the country.

Hatem al-Awadhi, KNPC’s deputy managing director for projects, recently described the sulphur project as the most important of the schemes currently under study.

With a combined capacity of 936,000 barrels a day, Kuwait’s three refineries currently produce a total of about 850,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of sulphur at present. KNPC’s parent company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) plans to raise sulphur production to 2 million t/y by 2015.

The project is part of Kuwait’s preparation before it can receive gas from the offshore Dorra field, by upgrading sulphur recovery units and loading facilities at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery. Liquid sulphur will be granulated for easy handling and storage before being loaded on to ships for export (MEED 6:7:11).

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.