DUBAI- Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery has completed a biofuels expansion project with two additional production units coming on-stream, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Kuwait National Petroleum Corp (KNPC).

The two new coal and naphtha hydro treating units will produce 37,000 and 8,400 barrels per day (bpd) of oil equivalent respectively, Waleed al-Badr, KNPC chief executive officer said.

Operations are still underway to complete the same project in the Mina Abdullah refinery, he added.

The two refineries are undergoing upgrades and expansion as part of the Clean Fuels Project (CFP) with a focus on producing higher-value products such as diesel and kerosene for export.

Upon completion, Al-Ahmadi refinery, which consists of 31 units, will have a production capacity of 364,000 bpd, KUNA quoted Abdullah al-Ajmi, the deputy CEO for projects, as saying.

The cost of the biofuels project has reached 4.6 billion dinars ($14.7 billion), according to Al-Ajmi.

After the units in Mina Abdullah come on-stream, the biofuel project will have a capacity of 800,000 bpd.

Kuwait currently has a refining capacity of around 730,000 bpd, mainly from Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdallah, its largest refineries.

 

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Dahlia Nehme; editing by Jason Neely and Pravin Char) ((maher.chmaytelli@thomsonreuters.com;))