Massive refinery project advances to Pre-FEED stage
David Wagman | February 21, 2019Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) Refining awarded an $8 million Pre-Front End Engineering and Designing (Pre-FEED) contract to Scotland-based Wood Group for a new refinery in Ruwais, in the western region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The refinery is planned to have a capacity of 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day. It will be designed to have conversion capability and allow integration with petrochemicals industries in Ruwais, which ranks as one of largest single-site refineries in the world.
The Pre-FEED contract is the second of a four-stage process leading to construction. The first stage was a feasibility study. The Pre-FEED stage is expected to be finished by the end of 2019.
In January, ADNOC signed two partnership agreements with Eni and OMV. Eni and OMV will acquire 20% and 15% shares in ADNOC Refining, respectively, with ADNOC owning the remaining 65%.
Eni and OMV will also own 20% and 15% of the shares of a trading joint venture. Once completed, the refinery located in the Persian Gulf region is expected to supply markets in Africa, Asia and Europe.
In May 2018, ADNOC announced plans to build the integrated refining and petrochemicals complex. Refining capacity is planned to expand by more than 65% by 2025, creating a total capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd). The new refinery will add to the range of crudes that can be processed at the Ruwais site.
The investment is also intended to increase the Ruwais refinery's ability to produce greater volumes of higher-value petrochemicals and derivative products. Plans include building one of the world’s largest mixed feed crackers, tripling ADNOC’s production capacity from 4.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) in 2016 to 14.4 mtpa by 2025.
In addition to investing in its refining and petrochemicals operations, ADNOC plans to develop an integrated downstream ecosystem in Ruwais, including new derivatives and conversion parks.
ADNOC is one of the world’s leading diversified energy and petrochemicals groups with a daily output of about 3 million barrels of oil and 10.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. With 14 specialist subsidiary and joint venture companies, ADNOC is a primary catalyst for the UAE’s growth and diversification.
