18 May 2011
MUSCAT -- Authorities overseeing the planned revamp and expansion of the Sultanate's flagship refinery at Sohar are targeting a four-and-a-half-year timeline for the engineering design and execution of the ambitious project.
Allowing for 12 months for the completion of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and roughly three-and-a-half years thereafter for the execution of the upgrade, the expansion is slated to be completed by the end of 2015.
Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC), the landlord-operator of the Port of Sohar, has earmarked a substantial plot of land adjoining the existing refinery complex for the expansion. A significant portion of the plot originally allocated to the now-shelved Oman Petrochemical Industries Co (OPIC) venture, has now been set aside for the refinery expansion project.
Work on the upgrade is expected to commence in earnest with the signing today of a key contract for the FEED and Project Management Consultancy Services package. Leading international technology firm CB&I Lummus won the prestigious contract, valued at RO 19.192 million, in a keenly contested international tender.
Texas USA-headquartered CB&I Lummus is a member of the multinational engineering and construction conglomerate Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (known commonly as CB&I. The company specialises in undertaking the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of upstream and downstream process facilities for the oil and gas industry, including petrochemical plants, LNG liquefaction trains, regasification terminals, refinery process units and synthesis gas plants.
As the FEED and Project Management Consultant, CB&I Lummus will oversee the expansion and modernisation of Sohar Refinery into a world-scale facility. The upgrade will not only ramp up the plant's output of refined petroleum fuels for the domestic and export markets, but also augment its ability to meet feedstock supply commitments to Aromatics Oman and Oman Polypropylene at the downstream end of the refinery.
Importantly, the expansion will contribute to a 60 per cent enhancement in the refinery's design capacity from the present 116,400 barrels per stream day (bpsd) to 187,774 bpsd.
For the first time, bitumen will be added to the refinery's portfolio of refined petroleum products and byproducts. In tandem with the upgrade, several new units will be added and integrated into the existing refinery complex. They include a 71,500 bpd Crude Distillation Unit, 96,800 bpd Vacuum Distillation Unit, 66,400 bpd Once-Through Hydrocracker Unit, 42,400 bpd Solvent De-Asphalting Unit, sulphur recovery unit, sour water stripper units, amine regeneration unit, and isomerisation unit, among other systems. Utility generation and off-site storage facilities will be augmented as well.
One major objective of the upgrade is to improve the feed quality of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit to achieve design on-stream factor for better capacity utilisation of the refinery.
As part of its brief, CB&I Lummus will be required to, among other things, review the Basic Engineering Design Package (BEDP) for all the licensed units, prepare the BEDP for the unlicensed units, utilities and off-site facilities, and prepare the FEED for the total facilities.
In addition, the consultant will support the client during the tendering phase leading to the selection of an Engineering-Procurement-Construction or Lump-sum Turnkey Contractor for the execution of the project.
CB&I Lummus will also be required to explore any further synergy possible between the existing refinery complex and the new expansion refinery and Aromatics Oman.
The consultant shall address gaps, if any, in meeting the product quality norms by suitably designing the expansion units instead of revamping the existing facilities. The blended final products from both the refineries (existing plus expansion) shall conform to Euro IV environmental norms.
MUSCAT -- Authorities overseeing the planned revamp and expansion of the Sultanate's flagship refinery at Sohar are targeting a four-and-a-half-year timeline for the engineering design and execution of the ambitious project.
Allowing for 12 months for the completion of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and roughly three-and-a-half years thereafter for the execution of the upgrade, the expansion is slated to be completed by the end of 2015.
Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC), the landlord-operator of the Port of Sohar, has earmarked a substantial plot of land adjoining the existing refinery complex for the expansion. A significant portion of the plot originally allocated to the now-shelved Oman Petrochemical Industries Co (OPIC) venture, has now been set aside for the refinery expansion project.
Work on the upgrade is expected to commence in earnest with the signing today of a key contract for the FEED and Project Management Consultancy Services package. Leading international technology firm CB&I Lummus won the prestigious contract, valued at RO 19.192 million, in a keenly contested international tender.
Texas USA-headquartered CB&I Lummus is a member of the multinational engineering and construction conglomerate Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (known commonly as CB&I. The company specialises in undertaking the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of upstream and downstream process facilities for the oil and gas industry, including petrochemical plants, LNG liquefaction trains, regasification terminals, refinery process units and synthesis gas plants.
As the FEED and Project Management Consultant, CB&I Lummus will oversee the expansion and modernisation of Sohar Refinery into a world-scale facility. The upgrade will not only ramp up the plant's output of refined petroleum fuels for the domestic and export markets, but also augment its ability to meet feedstock supply commitments to Aromatics Oman and Oman Polypropylene at the downstream end of the refinery.
Importantly, the expansion will contribute to a 60 per cent enhancement in the refinery's design capacity from the present 116,400 barrels per stream day (bpsd) to 187,774 bpsd.
For the first time, bitumen will be added to the refinery's portfolio of refined petroleum products and byproducts. In tandem with the upgrade, several new units will be added and integrated into the existing refinery complex. They include a 71,500 bpd Crude Distillation Unit, 96,800 bpd Vacuum Distillation Unit, 66,400 bpd Once-Through Hydrocracker Unit, 42,400 bpd Solvent De-Asphalting Unit, sulphur recovery unit, sour water stripper units, amine regeneration unit, and isomerisation unit, among other systems. Utility generation and off-site storage facilities will be augmented as well.
One major objective of the upgrade is to improve the feed quality of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit to achieve design on-stream factor for better capacity utilisation of the refinery.
As part of its brief, CB&I Lummus will be required to, among other things, review the Basic Engineering Design Package (BEDP) for all the licensed units, prepare the BEDP for the unlicensed units, utilities and off-site facilities, and prepare the FEED for the total facilities.
In addition, the consultant will support the client during the tendering phase leading to the selection of an Engineering-Procurement-Construction or Lump-sum Turnkey Contractor for the execution of the project.
CB&I Lummus will also be required to explore any further synergy possible between the existing refinery complex and the new expansion refinery and Aromatics Oman.
The consultant shall address gaps, if any, in meeting the product quality norms by suitably designing the expansion units instead of revamping the existing facilities. The blended final products from both the refineries (existing plus expansion) shall conform to Euro IV environmental norms.
© Oman Daily Observer 2011
