Global Arab Network | Oman - Sohar Refinery upgrade to meet bitumen requirements

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Oman - Sohar Refinery upgrade to meet bitumen requirements

Global Arab Network - - Ammar Shikhani

Tuesday, 03 May 2011 13:09

Oman_Bitumen_jetty_on_anvil_at_Port_of_Sohar

Global Arab Network - MUSCAT — Bitumen — a commodity of critical importance to Oman’s road-building and infrastructure modernisation objectives — will be one of several commercially valuable product streams that will become available upon the completion of a planned expansion and revamp of Sohar Refinery.

A state-of-the-art Solvent De-Asphalting Unit, envisaged as part of the refinery’s expansion and modernisation, will have a capacity to process an estimated 42,652 barrels per day of feedstock into bitumen. The output of bitumen (also known as asphalt) is estimated at 6,500 barrels per day, but volumes could potentially be ramped up depending upon demand, it is learnt.

When eventually brought into operation over the next several years, bitumen output from the expanded Sohar Refinery is expected not only to meet domestic bitumen demand, but also position the Sultanate as a leading producer.

Oman consumes significant volumes of bitumen for its massive road-building and paving programme. Hundreds of kilometres of new blacktop are either added to the country’s road network every year or repaved under an ongoing maintenance programme. Almost all of the country’s requirements of bitumen are currently met through imports.

But upon the relaunch of Sohar Refinery’s expanded complex, Oman will turn from being an importer to a net exporter of bitumen — a development of major import to the nation’s goal of achieving self-sufficiency in a number of strategic areas.

The planned revamp of Sohar Refinery will not only lead to significant enhancements in the output of petroleum fuels for the domestic and export markets, but also contribute to new product streams, including bitumen. Furthermore, the upgrade will augment the plant’s ability to meet feedstock supply commitments to nearby downstream petrochemical schemes.

A Value Maximisation Study has mooted a major expansion of the refinery’s design capacity from the present 116,400 barrels per day (bpd) to 187,774 bpd, entailing a jump of over 60 per cent.

In conjunction 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.

Feedstock from the Vacuum Distillation Unit will be processed by the Solvent De-Asphalting Unit to generate asphalt and de-asphalted oil. The asphalt output will then be converted to on-spec bitumen by blending it with clarified oil/slurry oil from the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker. Surplus asphalt is proposed to be pelletised.

Underscoring Oman’s efforts to become a major producer of bitumen, Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC), the landlord-operator of the Port of Sohar, is weighing plans to establish a Bitumen Jetty along the southern breakwater of the port. A feasibility study covering the design, features and capacity of the jetty is currently under way in this regard.

SIPC has also allocated a plot of land within the industrial port for the construction of a proposed Bitumen Refinery promoted by Bahrain’s Mashael Group. It follows the signing in September 2009 of an agreement for the establishment of a specialised refinery with a capacity to produce 30,000 barrels per day of bitumen, equivalent to 1 million tonnes per annum. Work on the project — estimated at the time to cost $200 million — is yet to commence. (Omanobserver)

Global Arab Network

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