International Petroleum Refining Projects Planned for 2004 Exceed $6 Billion

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). International petroleum refiners are preparing to begin construction for 109 capital projects during 2004 with a Total Investment Value (TIV) of $6.7 billion, a ten percent increase over 2003's forecast of 98 capital projects. The forecasted increase in capital spending for international petroleum refiners in 2004 is significant, but only a fraction of the 47 percent increase the forecast was in 2003. See related IIR Industry Alert titled International Petroleum Refining Projects Planned to Kick-Off in 2003 Increases by 47 Percent over 2002.

As European and other world regions continue to commit to clean fuel initiatives and focus on reductions in sulfur content, the trend of increased capital spending will continue to increase through 2007 or even 2010. The average project TIV will decrease slightly to just over $61 million although the number of capitally funded projects at the time they were reported exceeded 55 percent or $3.5 billion.

"Our focus for the international refining industry has been on major unit additions, as they represent the majority of all capital spending. Major unit additions also represent the largest opportunity for domestic equipment and service providers capable of exporting their materials and technologies to international markets," commented Chris Paschall, Petroleum Refining Group Manager with Industrialinfo.com.

Click the image to the right to view an index of the three largest 2004 projects reported this year plus an analysis of the 2004 construction starts by country and world region.

Nearly half of the total projects and spending during 2004 will be concentrated in Asia. Over $2.7 billion is planned for Asia in 2004 with 16 of those 44 projects being hydrotreater unit additions with a TIV over $1.1 billion. Latin America and Europe combined will see a similar investment total of an estimated $2.7 billion and 40 projects planned for construction starts in 2004. The top three countries with the highest level of spending for 2004 are United Arab Emirates, Croatia and South Africa. The United Arab Emirates and Croatia both expect to see 2004 capital spending exceed $700 million and South Africa nearing $500 million.