The studies for merging Al-Zour Refinery and the petrochemical complex have made remarkable advance, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) CEO Mohammad Al-Mutairi said on Monday.
Al-Mutairi's statement was made to reporters on the sidelines of the second edition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Heavy Oil Conference and Exhibition that kicked off today.
He stressed that no decisions have been taken on changes at the KNPC's grand projects. This only happens when a more modern technology is available.
Referring to developments at Al-Zour, Al-Mutairi said that bidding for the fourth of the refinery's major packages, for establishing storage tanks, has been closed. The fifth will end on January 6, while bidding for the first, second and third packages will end on January 13.
The KNPC strategy is that Al-Zour Refinery complex will be an integrated Refinery-Petrochemical complex also having the LNG Import Facilities, he said. KNPC is mulling setting up a separate company to manage the whole would-be complex.
On the project of importing LNG, he said that it is still in a state of initial studies, that are expected to be completed by the end of December. He said the capacity of the LNG project will hit three billion square foot.
Meanwhile, KNPC has designated a financial advisor for the Clean Fuels Project that has started assessment and by mid-January the general plan for financiers will be ready, he said.