Laffan refinery awards feed contract

The Qatargas-operated Laffan Refinery Company Limited has awarded a lump sum Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Contract for the Refinery's Phase 2 expansion to Technip. Phase 2 will increase the current refinery capacity to enable Qatar to meet all of its Naphtha, Diesel, LPG and Kerojet requirements.  The FEED study is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2012 and will be executed by Technip engineering center in Paris, France. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract is expected to be awarded by the third quarter of 2012.  HE Qatargas CEO and Vice- Chairman of Laffan Refinery Co Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Thani stated, "The second phase of Laffan refinery supports the State of Qatar vision to improve product distribution domestically and fully complies with international customers' demands for cleaner fuel products allowing Qatar to become a net exporter of diesel and other refined products, instead of an importer.  For his part, Laffan Refinery Venture Manager Eng. Salman Ashkanani said "The new expansion project will double the existing capacity of the Laffan Refinery to 292,000 BPSD (barrels per stream day) and the facility will be fully operational by the first Quarter of 2016, playing a central role in Qatar's new energy mix and its 2030 vision."  Ashkanani explained that environmental issues would be given the highest priority throughout project execution. The new facility will be designed to meet Qatar Regulatory requirements as embodied in the environmental policy and international environmental standards. This refinery will be designed for zero flaring during normal operations.  Laffan Refinery is Qatar's first condensate refinery which started production in September 2009. Currently, the refinery has a processing capacity of 146,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and utilizes the field condensate produced from the Qatargas and RasGas facilities.  It consists of process units including utility systems, distillation units, naphtha and kerosene hydrotreaters, a hydrogen unit and a saturated gas plant producing naphtha, kerojet, gasoil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).  The refinery's production capacity includes 62,000 bpsd of naphtha, 52,000 bpsd of kerojet, 24,000 bpsd of gasoil, and 8,000 bpsd of LPG. (QNA)