Saudi firm to increase Ras Tanura capacity

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, has said it plans to expand the capacity of its Ras Tanura refinery to 950,000 barrels per day by 2012 from 550,000 bpd to serve the Kingdom's demand for oil products in both the Eastern and Central provinces.

In addition, the company is constructing two state-of-the-art 400,000-barrel-per-day deep-conversion refineries in Yanbu and Jubail, with partners ConocoPhillips and Total, as demand for energy surges in the world's second-largest oil producing country.

Progress on the Ras Tan-ura Refinery Arabian Heavy Expansion Project took a major step forward recently as Mohammad Y. Al-Qahtani, president and CEO of Aramco Services Co (ASC), and Edward Pagano, president of US Operations for the Worley Parsons Resources and Energy Co., signed an agreement to launch the first phase of the project.

"Upon completion, this project will significantly increase Saudi Aramco's refining capacity to help meet growing domestic energy needs," Saudi Aramco quoted Al Qahtani as saying.

The agreement involves development of a detailed project proposal that will outline design protocols and scope of work for the expansion project.

ASC will provide logistical and material support for the Saudi Aramco Ras Tanura Expansion Project Team, which is in Arcadia, California.

The team will work closely with Worley Parsons to develop a plan to increase Ras Tanura's refining capacity.

Saudi Arabia is experiencing increased demand for all types of refined products, especially gasoline and fuel oil. To keep pace, Saudi Aramco made the decision to greatly expand its Ras Tanura refining facility to help ensure adequate supplies of gasoline, diesel and fuel oil in the future.

In addition, the expansion project will provide the required feedstock to the Ras Tanura integrated refining and petrochemicals project in Ras Tanura.