Oil production makes steady progress

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 21: The local refining industry, led by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), continues to make steady progress towards its strategic objectives by enhancing the operational capabilities of the country’s refineries. These efforts align with the development initiatives aimed at strengthening the national economy and diversifying income sources. Official statistics indicate a significant improvement in the operational and production efficiency of local refineries, highlighting the substantial investments made in this vital sector, which plays a key role in safeguarding the nation’s wealth.

Recent data show that the combined refining capacity of the Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries has risen to 830,000 barrels per day, up from approximately 800,000 barrels per day in recent years. According to an informed source, the achievement reflects the success of recent expansion and modernization efforts, which have enhanced refining efficiency and enabled the sector to meet growing local and international demand for high-quality petroleum products that comply with stringent global environmental standards. These developments further strengthen Kuwait’s position as a key global supplier of cleaner energy.

Regarding complex operational and logistical activities, the same data showed that the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery achieved an unprecedented milestone by receiving 284,000 barrels of light naphtha supplied by the Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company. This delivery directly boosted the operational capacity of the refinery’s gasoline production units, enabling it to produce and export a large, full cargo of motor fuel to international markets, generating substantial economic returns for the state treasury. Meanwhile, the refinery successfully completed comprehensive scheduled maintenance on its Clean Fuels Project units. The work involved inspecting and upgrading 1,500 pieces of equipment and maintaining 20,000 isolation points. A workforce of 4,500, comprising national technical staff and specialized personnel, completed the work over 779,072 continuous man-hours without a single incident. The refinery also completed extensive major maintenance on three key units at its gas liquefaction plant.

In addition, it successfully tested the coker unit, which achieved an exceptional production rate of 120 percent of its original design capacity, exceeding expectations. This achievement paves the way for increasing the output of high-value products and improving refining profit margins. In addition, the strategic pipeline project connecting the refineries to local distribution depots has been brought into operation, significantly enhancing operational and logistical flexibility while ensuring that local market demand and the needs of power generation plants are met efficiently and promptly. In a related development, the source reported that maintenance teams at Al- Zour Refinery successfully devised and implemented new engineering methods to repair one of its main towers. The achievement reduced the repair period to a record 28 days, compared with the original estimate of 46 days, demonstrating the teams’ efficiency in responding to challenges and minimizing operational downtime to ensure uninterrupted production

By Najeh Bilal Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff