MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has completed the central unit of the Al-Zour refinery project in Kuwait, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.
As the largest refinery in the Middle East, it will make Kuwait the biggest clean oil-producing country in the region with an annual processing capacity of 3,150 tons.
Launched in October 2015, the Al-Zour refinery project is the latest achievement of Sino-Kuwait cooperation, which also holds the record of being the world's largest one-time construction to date. Nearly 500 companies from 50 countries and regions participated in the project. The world-class refinery is being built with an investment of USD1.39 billion and produces mainly gasoline, diesel and kerosene to Euro 5 emission standards.
As one of the general contractors of Al-Zour refinery project, Sinopec Luoyang Engineering adopted an intelligent collaborative work system and utilised virtual designs to coordinate with global partners and share data to complete the 15 process production plants including the hydrodesulfurization plant.
An emphasis on locally-sourced materials has created a boost to the manufacturing industries of Kuwait as well as the development of the local economy and providing a large number of employment opportunities.
Usama Ali, project manager of Al-Zour refinery, spoke highly of Sinopec as a "trustworthy, professional and hardworking partner" and hopes Sinopec will continue to participate in further projects in Kuwait.
The Al-Zour refinery will provide high-quality clean fuel with high added-value for the global market, it's also a new milestone for Kuwait as the country pushes forward national economic transitions.
With 60 years of history, Sinopec Luoyang Engineering has completed 4,300 mid-to large-scale construction projects and has acquired 1,061 patents at home and abroad.
Adhering to independent innovation, Sinopec owns a series of world-leading technologies and solutions in areas of oil refining, ethylene, aromatic hydrocarbon and more, as well as the capabilities to build 10-million-tonnage refineries, million-tonnage ethylene units and million-tonnage aromatic hydrocarbon units.
In 2016, Sinopec's first overseas refinery project, the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company in Saudi Arabia, officially began operations. A year later, Sinopec completed the upgrading of Kazakhstan's Atyrau Refinery.
As MRC reported before, Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical, part of China's petrochemical giant - Sinopec, restarted operations at its cracker in early December, 2019, following the completion of the turnaround. The company started maintenance at the plant on October 12, 2019. Located in the Guangzhou province of China, the cracker has ethylene production capacity of 260,000 mt/year and propylene production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,724,670 tonnes in the first ten months of 2019, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market in January-October 2019 totalled 1,066,520 tonnes, up by 7% year on year. Supply of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymer) and homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) increased, demand for statistical copolymers (PP random copolymer) decreased.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. Sinopec's business includes oil and gas exploration, refining, and marketing; production and sales of petrochemicals, chemical fibers, chemical fertilizers, and other chemical products; storage and pipeline transportation of crude oil and natural gas; import, export and import/export agency business of crude oil, natural gas, refined oil products, petrochemicals, and other chemicals.
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