Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Oil Refinery Co is running one of its two plants below capacity as the state-run company known as Takreer awaits supplies from offshore fields, an official said.
The 400,000 barrel-a-day Ruwais refinery is not processing full volumes of condensate, a product captured in oil and natural gas extraction, General Manager Jasem Ali Al Sayegh said at the World Refining Association conference in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.
The smaller Abu Dhabi refinery is running at full capacity of about 85,000 barrels a day after Takreer completed a full shutdown for planned maintenance five days ago, he said.
Together, the two refineries are producing between 380,000 and 400,000 barrels of refined oil products a day, equivalent to about 82 per cent of their combined capacity. Full capacity is about 490,000 barrels a day.
Doubling output
"We have some spare capacity in our condensate splitters," Al Sayegh told reporters at the conference. "We will fill the capacity once more condensate becomes available at the end of the second quarter."
Units added in the expansion of Takreer's Ruwais refinery will be completed by the end of 2013 and fully operational in the first quarter of 2014, Al Sayegh said. The expansion will increase refining capacity at Ruwais by 417,000 barrels a day, doubling gasoline output, he said.
Gulf countries are seeking to boost refining capacity as their growing economies require more fuel. Lower project costs mean Takreer was able to save about 25 per cent on the project compared with initial cost estimates, Al Sayegh said.
