Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has awarded a key resid hydrocracking catalyst management contract to US-based clean fuels group specialist Advanced Refining Technologies (ART).

 

A joint venture between US specialty chemicals group and materials group WR Grace & Company and energy giant Chevron, ART boasts industry-leading catalyst technology for metals capacity and sediment control.

 

The exclusive, five-year agreement, which includes an option to renew for an additional five years, is valued at $240 million, the largest catalyst management agreement ever signed in Bapco’s history.

 

As part of the BMP, Bapco will boost Bahrain’s oil refinery processing capacity from 267,000 barrels per day to 380,000 (bpd). 

 

In addition, ART will supply its Resid Hydrocracking catalyst technology for a wide variety of feedstocks to maximize bottom of the barrel upgrading. It will also provide FCM services for the reclamation of metals from spent catalysts.

 

When fully operational in 2023, the new Resid Hydrocracking unit known as 1RHCU will be the main profit centre for the Bapco Refinery, said the statement from WR Grace & Company. 

 

1RHCU utilizes LC-Fining process technology licensed from Chevron Lummus Global (CLG), a joint venture between Chevron and Lummus Technology. The unit is a two-train design with a processing capacity of 65,000 barrels per day. 

 

Bapco’s application of this state-of-the-art technology will be the first within the Middle East. Less than a dozen of these units exist globally, and the Bapco unit will be one of the largest examples, it added.

 

The agreement was signed yesterday (August 11) at Bapco Club in Awali, in the presence of Chairman and CEO Dr Dawood Nassif and Jag Reddy, Managing Director of ART and other senior officials from Bapco, ART and CLG.

 

On the strategic deal, Dr Nassif said: "Our new hydrocracking unit will convert 78% of the vacuum residue feed into intermediate products, which will then be further processed into high margin kerosene and diesel. A key component is catalyst performance and management, and the unique agreement signed with ART, who will be responsible for the total supply chain of catalyst from cradle to cradle."

 

"This agreement has taken over 18 months to develop and negotiate, and I thank all the parties involved in making this a success," he added.

 

Reddy said: "This award is significant. It demonstrates the superiority of our catalyst technology and our ability to provide value through unmatched global support and technical services. I want to thank Bapco for their vote of confidence."

 

"They will benefit tremendously over the life of this agreement through maximum conversion, lower operating costs, reliability, and longer run lengths. Most importantly, Bapco will free up valuable time and resources," he added.-TradeArabia News Service