Attock to Begin Rawalpindi Refinery Expansion Project by September 2013

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--After a delay of more than two years, Pakistani refinery major Attock Refinery Limited (KSE:ATRL) (ARL) (Rawalpindi, Pakistan) is now set to kick off its $251 million expansion project at the Rawalpindi refinery by September 2013.

ARL, which is a part of the Attock Group of Companies, has selected Hyundai Engineering Company (000720:KS) (Seoul, Korea) as its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to expand the 40,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery located at Morgah, near Rawalpindi city in Pakistan.

The expansion drive envisages an augmentation of the existing crude distillation unit (CDU) and addition of an isomerization and a diesel hydrodesulphurization unit. The expansion work for the CDU and the addition of the isomerization unit are expected to begin in September this year, while the diesel hydrodesulphurization unit addition is slated to kick off during the first quarter of 2014.

The refiner aims to expand the existing "HBU-1" crude unit to 32,400 BBL/d by adding a pre-flash column, at an expense of $30 million, thus increasing the refinery's overall capacity to 52,400 BBL/d. ARL would add a 7,000 BBL/d isomerization unit and a 12,500 BBL/d diesel desulphurization unit, to increase production of premium motor gasoline and to produce Euro-II-compliant diesel.

As per the current schedule, the HBU-1 expansion and isomerization unit addition projects are expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2014, whereas the diesel desulphurization unit addition project is expected to take a little longer, as the company is still in talks with the government of Pakistan to incentivize the project.

The refinery, which began operations in February 1922, was the first refinery in the region and had two mini-crude units of 2,500-BBL/d capacities each. Over the years, due to the increasing number of oil discoveries in Pakistan, the refinery expanded to the current capacity of 40,000 BBL/d. The refinery currently has four crude units: the 20,000-BBL/d HBU-1, the 5,000-BBL/d HBU-2, the 5,500-BBL/d CDU-3, and the 10,000-BBL/d heavy crude unit. Other major downstream units of the refinery include naptha hydrotreater, catalytic cracker and merox.

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