Today, Wednesday, Kuwait celebrated the operation of the entire Al-Zour oil refinery, which has been operating for years, at a cost of more than $16 billion.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Imad Al-Ateeqi said – in a speech he delivered during the commissioning ceremony – that the total refining capacity of Kuwait currently amounts to 1.83 million barrels per day produced by the Al-Zour Refinery, from inside and outside the country.
The Al-Zour refinery, whose full operation was celebrated today in the presence of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, is the most modern in the country, with a current full refining capacity of 615 thousand barrels per day. The refinery produces several products, including low-sulfur fuel oil, with a sulfur content of 0.5%, and is supplied to the Ministry of Kuwaiti electricity and water are supplied in quantities, and the rest is exported abroad.
Al-Ateeqi added that the Al-Zour refinery is one of the most important projects of the development plan in Kuwait, and it is one of the main pillars of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s 2040 strategic plan, which aims to produce high-quality oil derivatives that comply with international environmental standards and requirements.
Al-Ateeqi said that the refinery project “contributes to increasing the profitability of our products, opening new global markets for these products, and enhancing the leadership position of the State of Kuwait as a major global energy provider.”
Internal refining capacity
The minister added that the refining capacity of internal refineries amounts to 1.415 million barrels per day, and the rest is for Kuwait’s shares in external refineries.
Kuwait – in addition to the Al-Zour refinery – has two local refineries, Mina Abdullah and Al-Ahmadi, which are affiliated with the Kuwait National Petroleum Company and whose total refining capacity reaches 800 thousand barrels per day.
Kuwait owns shares in 3 refineries abroad: the Duqm Refinery in the Sultanate of Oman, Nghe Son in Vietnam, and Milazzo in Italy.
Last December, the state-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) completed operating its third and final Al-Zour refinery units “successfully and safely.”
It said at the time that it had achieved – by operating the Al-Zour Refinery – the goal of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s strategy of reaching the maximum refining capacity of the refinery, which amounts to 615 thousand barrels per day.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation – which is affiliated with KIPIC and the National Petroleum Company – is working to raise the refining capacity to 1.6 million barrels per day from the three refineries, with a focus on the Al-Zour refinery in particular.
