Kuwait's state-owned refiner KNPC has scheduled a turnaround at its 346,000 b/d Mina al-Ahmadi refinery starting in March.

The turnaround will shut down a 200,000 b/d crude distillation unit (CDU) and unspecified units at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery in mid-March and will likely last for 45 days.

Production of middle distillates will likely be affected during the maintenance, said traders.

The turnaround comes as KNPC works to complete its $16bn Clean Fuels Project (CFP), which involves integrating the Mina Abdullah refinery with the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, and raising their combined crude processing capacity to 800,000 b/d. Work at Mina al-Ahmadi was completed in April last year, reducing its refining capacity to 346,000 b/d from 440,000 b/d previously.

KNPC has recently commissioned a 23,500 b/d naphtha treatment unit at its Mina Abdullah refinery. The commissioning of the new 264,000 b/d CDU had helped raise Mina Abdullah's capacity to its post-CFP capacity of 454,000 b/d from 265,000 b/d previously.

KNPC sources said they expect all remaining units at Mina Abdullah to be commissioned by the end of the first quarter in 2021.

Source: Argus