Pakistan’s Attock Refinery Ltd plans to establish a new 50,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) deep-conversion refinery. The company’s recently release annual report says that the refinery addition depends upon “sustainable enhanced supplies of local crude… and necessary support from the government side.” The expansion plan is part of an upgrade to meet Euro-V fuel specifications, […]
KVT Technology compares its OXYSULF process with a conventional sulphur recovery unit, assessing emissions, energy efficiency and performance for refineries and industrial sites pursuing lower costs and stronger environmental compliance.
Axens says that it has strengthened its collaboration with Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) via a long-term agreement aimed at maximising asset value and supporting ERC’s evolving needs in product supply, digital transformation, and refinery performance optimisation. Under the agreement, Axens will use its integrated portfolio of technologies, equipment, catalysts, and services to support ERC’s operational, economic, and sustainability objectives.
Cartagena Refinery has entered the solid sulphur market, diversifying its petrochemical portfolio, according to a company statement on 21 May. The first shipment of 260 tonnes has already been dispatched to the domestic market. This new venture is enabled by a recently commissioned pelletising plant that converts liquid sulphur into solid pellets, with a production capacity of 1,000 t/d. The refinery is targeting Colombia’s fertilizer, chemical, and mining industries, and is also planning to export to international markets, including Brazil, Peru, and countries in Africa.
While there has been a focus on switching to low carbon hydrogen feeds, many options exist to decarbonise refineries, including energy efficiency, carbon capture and changing to bio-feedstocks.
Sulphur production continues to expand in the Middle East and East and South Asia both from new refineries and major sour gas projects.
Following an increase in its processing capacity, Duqm Refinery is now looking at further expansion projects at the $9 billion refinery project located, in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD) on Oman’s southeast coast. The refinery, which now has an expanded capacity of 255,000 bbl/d, is run by OQ8, a joint venture between Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and Oman’s OQ Group. Speaking to local media, CEO Abdulla Al Ajmi said that OQ8 has now begun front end engineering design on a reformer unit to upgrade naphtha into high-octane gasoline components such as reformate, a critical step in producing finished, specification-grade fuels. In addition to the proposed reformer unit, Duqm Refinery is also exploring opportunities to enhance value creation from its refining by-products, notably sulphur and coke.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released its final investigation report into the fatal release of hydrogen sulphide at the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Texas in October 2024.
Maire Group subsidiary KTKinetics Technology says that it has completed work on the Rijeka Refinery Upgrade Project in Croatia, having completed the engineering, procurement and construction activities. The scope of work included a new delayed coking unit to process heavy residue and eliminate the production of fuel oil while increasing refinery efficiency capacity, the revamping of the process units and the utility network and the implementation of the latest solutions for coke handling and storage and sea jetty construction and shipping loading facilities.
Repsol says that it is planning a 100MW green hydrogen plant to supply its Petronor refinery near Bilbao. From 2029, the plant will supply the refinery with 15,000 t/a of green hydrogen. Repsol says that the installation could prevent up to 167,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The €292m ($346m) project has already secured €160m ($190m) in NextGenerationEU funds from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, after being recognised as a Project of Common European Interest by the European Commission.