Saudi Aramco has extended the bidding deadline for the $300mn Clean Transportation Fuel Project at its 120,000 b/d capacity Riyadh refinery. Submissions had been requested by the end of October, but the state company has now extended the deadline to 7 January at the request of bidders. The extension will require a revision to Saudi Aramco’s preliminary schedule for plant shutdowns, which were to begin in late 2012. The units to be shut down are understood to be crude distillation, the 30,000 b/d hydrocracker and the 30,000 b/d catalytic reformer.
The Riyadh refinery upgrade is part of a Saudi Aramco push to reduce the sulfur content of its refineries’ gasoline and diesel output to a maximum 10 parts per million (MEES, 14 September). It will include isomerization, naphtha splitting and sulfur guard-bed units, and the addition of new equipment. (CONTINUED - 188 WORDS)
