(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Homs Refinery Company in Syria is aiming to conduct a study to expand and rehabilitate its refinery located in Homs in central Syria, a source close to the project told arabianoilandgas.com. The company aims to reduce emissions by upgrading to the latest technology. ⌠They want to introduce a new isomerisation unit, a mild hydrocracking unit, said the source. ⌠They also want to build a new cooker and hydrotreating unit along with another unit for sulphur management, he added. The refinery has a processing capacity of 110.000 barrels per day and processes mainly Iraqi oil.
The refinery also aims to introduce an alternative sulphur management unit to convert the sulphur gas to H2SO4 (or sulphuric acid). ⌠The main issue facing the execution is securing the necessary funds to execute such a big project, said the source.
The Homs refinery came on stream in 1959 as the first refinery in Syria to meet the local market's demand for oil derivatives and export the rest. The refinery is currently causing significant environmental pollution obliging the government to look for ways to reduce its emissions.