The third and final crude distillation unit (CDU) of Kuwait’s 615,000 b/d Al Zour refinery is set to come online next month, bringing to a close Kuwait’s $30bn refinery upgrading program. Sheikh Khaled Al Sabah, Managing Director of International Marketing at state firm KPC told the S&P Global Commodity Insights MPGC conference in Dubai on 22 May that work on bringing the greenfield refinery to full capacity is progressing well and that “we expect the third unit to come online in June.”
Sheikh Khaled’s comments indicate that last month’s temporary shutdown of the refinery following a malfunction hasn’t delayed commissioning of Unit 3 (MEES, 14 April). Ramp-up will be a gradual process, and Sheikh Khaled says that Al Zour should be running at full 615,000 b/d capacity before the end of September. (CONTINUED - 1102 WORDS)
