Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s (KNPC) Clean Fuels Project (CFP) involved the upgrade and integration of the Mina Abdulla (MAB) and Mina Al Ahmadi (MAA) refineries.
The project increased the combined capacity of the refineries from 736,000 to 800,000 barrels per day and lowered the sulphur content of petroleum products to 5%.
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MAB refinery is located 60km south of Kuwait City, while MAA refinery is located 45km south of Kuwait City.
Upgrade and integration of both refineries was performed under three separate contract packages, including one at MAA and two at MAB.
Certain facilities at the neighbouring Shouaiba refinery were also renovated as part of the project and closed down with the opening of the new Al-Zour refinery in 2018.
The Clean Fuels Project generated first steam in November 2018 and achieved completion in August 2020.
Selected offsite facilities of the refinery, including storage, blending and shipping / logistics, were integrated with the MAA / MAB operations.
The project was awarded the 2018 Gold Award in HSE Excellence by the American Society of Safety Engineers Kuwait Chapter.
Financing for the Clean Fuels project
The overall investment for the project was KD4,680m (approximately $16bn). NBK Capital was appointed as the financial advisor to KNPC in September 2014.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided a buyer credit guarantee in respect of a $6.2bn multi-ECA financing for the CFP. UKEF provided $250m to support the project management and consultancy services provided by Amec Foster Wheeler Energy.
Other export credit agencies involved in the financing were Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE), and Atradius Dutch State Business.
Kuwait Clean Fuels project components
Modification and installation of 29 units was performed at the MAA refinery, which included 16 new units. The existing fluid catalyst cracking (FCC) was also be refurbished.
New components at the refinery included a vacuum distillation unit (VDU), delayed coker unit (DCU) and an atmospheric residue desulphurisation (ARDS) unit.
Other components included a sulphur recovery unit (SRU), gas oil desulphurisation (GOD) unit, and a hydrogen production (HPU) unit.
The first MAB package involved the installation of 19 new refining units at MAB, the refurbishment of five existing units at the Shouaiba refinery site and installation of inter-refinery transfer lines.
The second MAB package involved the renovation and new installation of 30 units in total, of which 14 were new units.
A total of 4,045 new equipment were installed as part of the CFP.
Technology licensors
The technology licensors for the project included Haldor Topsoe, Flour, UOP Honeywell, ABB Lumus, Chevron Lummus Global (CLG), Axens, Shell Global, and DuPont.
Contractors involved with the project
The project management services contractor was Foster Wheeler. A joint venture (JV) of Hill International (65%) and System Development and Project Management (35%) provided consulting services for the project during the construction phase.
Project management consultant during the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage was Fluor. The preliminary design, specifications and bill of quantities (BOQ) for the refineries were prepared by Engineering Consultants Group (ECG) and the FCC at MAA was upgraded by Daelim.
The $3.7bn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the first MAB package was awarded to a JV comprised of Petrofac (46.9%), Samsung Engineering (42.9%) and CB&I Nederland (10.2%) in February 2014.
CB&I supplied two atmospheric residue desulphurisation units licensed by Chevron Lummus Global, a JV between CB&I and Chevron.
The $3.4bn EPC contract for the second MAB package was awarded to a JV of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Fluor Corporation and Daewoo Engineering & Construction in April 2014.
The EPC contract for MAA package was awarded to the JV comprised of JGC Corporation, GS Engineering & Construction (GS E&C) and SK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C). SK E&C constructed the DCU and SRU, while GS E&C constructed the GOD unit and HPU.
Unidro was contracted by the JV for supplying water and wastewater treatment plants for the MAA package. Kentech was awarded the complete electrical and instrumentation package in Area 2 of the CFP.
Al Dhow was contracted for supply and installation of the full furniture, fixtures, and equipment package.
High-voltage substations for both refineries were supplied by Siemens under a contract worth €179.4m ($225m). The reactors, separators and coke drums were manufactured by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and shipped to the project site by Jumbo.
Flenco was selected by GE Oil & Gas for supplying the auxiliary systems.
