Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer) has announced the commissioning of Ruwais Refinery Expansion Project with a 100 per cent production capacity whereas the crude distillation unit and all associated hydro treating units were commissioned to process 417,000 BPSD (Barrels Per Stream Day) of Murban crude, which is a light mix of onshore crude in a single atmospheric distillation unit.
“Commissioning Ruwais Refinery with a full capacity is considered as a major milestone that would boost the local refining industry and attain optimal integration with the country’s petrochemical industry as the new refinery will be producing Propylene, in addition to distillation products that are used as a quality fuel like gasoline, jet fuel and gas oil products,” Jasem Ali Sayegh, Chief Executive Officer of Takreer said on Wednesday.
The company has recently exported 105 shipments of fine quality distillates to the global markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
One of the biggest shipments to date consisted of 122,000 tons naphtha, while the average shipment of low sulphur gas oil (less than 10 PPM) and jet fuel were 95,000 tonnes each, the company said.
Two propylene shipments of 7,000 tons each were also exported to global markets.
The Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), which is the key unit of the expansion project, has already been commissioned with 75 per cent production capacity. Work is ongoing to increase the production capacity to 100 per cent, the company said.
The unit produces Propylene, Alkaline and gasoline. The RFCC Unit and its associated refining units also aim to improve the heavy residues from the crude oil distillation unit.
“The new refinery was designed to double Takreer’ s current capacity to enable the company to refine about 900,000 bpd of crude oil and to maximise the production of propylene,” Al Sayegh said in a statement.
Challenging objective
Ruwais Refinery Expansion project consists of key processing units like distillation, hydro treatment, gas treatment, catalytic cracking unit, ethylene recovery unit, olefins conversion unit to produce propylene, alkylation unit, and several petrochemical units as well as support facilities that include utilities, off-site facilities for storage and mixing and the jetty area.
The key and challenging objective of the new refinery is to maximise the production of Propylene and distillates like jet fuel, gas oil with minimum residue levels and gasoline, thus allowing Takreer to meet the demand of the local and the international markets.
Takreer was established in 1999 as a public joint-stock company to take over the responsibility of refining operations previously undertaken by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
The company’s areas of operation include the refining of crude oil and condensate, supply of petroleum products and production of granulated Sulphur in compliance with domestic and international specifications.
