KUWAIT: New petrochemical giant in embryo

Kuwait will soon launch a new giant company to manage an oil refinery and petrochemical project worth nearly USD28 billion in its Southern Al Zour region, a newspaper in the Gulf Opec nation reported on 5 Jan 2016.

The Kuwait Petrochemicals and Refining Company (KPRC) will own Al Zour oil refinery and a planned nearby petrochemicals complex, the Arabic language daily Alseyassah said, quoting informed sources in Kuwait.

It said state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has completed procedures to launch the new entity following a decision to integrate the refinery and the petrochemicals complex into a single project.

“KPRC will manage Al Zour refinery, the petrochemicals complex and a project to supply gas to the complex,” the paper said, adding that the project involves production of fertilizers, olefins and aromatics. The report said investments in the project are estimated at USD16 billion for Al Zour oil refinery, USD10 billion for the petrochemicals complex and the rest for gas supply facilities.

It quoted the sources as saying oil authorities are considering offering 50 % shareholding in the project to the private sector, including firms and individuals. “The new project will be called ‘Al-Zour oil complex’…the integration process will reduce costs and increase profitability,” it said.

Kuwait, which controls nearly 101 billion barrels of proven crude deposits, in 2014 awarded contracts for the state-of-the-art Al Zour refinery, one of the world’s largest refining units with a planned capacity of 615,000 b/d.

Source: Daily “Emirates24/7”, Dubai; 5 Jan 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)