The refining business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Refining) is engaging in technical clarification meetings with contractors who have submitted technical bids for a project to maximise naphtha production from its refineries in Abu Dhabi.

Adnoc Refining produces approximately 11 million tonnes a year (t/y) of naphtha, which is categorised into two types: crude naphtha which is produced from crude processing in the refineries, and condensate naphtha which is obtained from processing of condensates.

The broad objective of the project, therefore, for Adnoc Refining is to upgrade the naphtha output to more valuable gasoline product to increase overall refinery margin.

The main scope of work on the project is to develop an integrated naphtha producing complex that will include light and heavy naphtha hydrotreater units, light naphtha isomerisation units, two heavy naphtha reformer units, and a 50,000-barrels-a-day (b/d) continuous catalytic reformer.

Adnoc Refining has stipulated that licensed process technology from France-based Axens is to be deployed to run the units.

Adnoc Refining issued the main tender for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the naphtha upgradation project in May, according to sources.

Contractors who have submitted technical bids for the project in June, are thought to include:

• Archirodon (Greece)
• Enppi (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
• Kalpataru Projects International Limited (India)
• Larsen and Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• Petrofac (UK)
• Tecnimont (Italy)

Following submission of technical bids, Adnoc Refining has started engaging bidders in technical clarification meetings, sources told MEED.

Feed-to-EPC contest

Adnoc Group owns the majority 65% stake in Adnoc Refining, with Italian energy major Eni and Austria’s OMV owning 20% and 15% stakes in the company, respectively, as a result of a $5.8bn transaction completed in 2019.

Adnoc Refining has a total capacity of refining 922,000 b/d of crude oil and condensates. The company produces over 40 million t/y of refined products, such as liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, gasoline, jet fuel, gas oil, base oil, fuel oil and petrochemicals feedstocks such as propylene. The company’s specialty products include carbon black and anode coke.

Adnoc Refining had started a front-end engineering and design (feed) to EPC competition for the naphtha upgradation project in March last year, MEED previously reported, selecting UK-headquartered Petrofac and South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction to participate in the feed-to-EPC contest for the project.

The project operator eventually cancelled the feed-to-EPC competition, sources told MEED. The reason for the cancellation could be that “prices that were submitted by the bidders were above budget,” one source said.

However, the EPC tender that has been issued by Adnoc Refining for the naphtha upgradation project is understood to be based upon the feed submission by Petrofac, as per sources.

The naphtha upgradation project itself is a leaner version of an estimated $3bn-plus project undertaken by Adnoc Refining a few years ago to develop a large-scale refining facility with the capacity to produce 4.2 million tonnes a year (t/y) of gasoline and 1.6 million t/y of aromatics.

Adnoc Refining cancelled the gasoline and aromatics project in 2019. The operator has “retained some elements and units that were meant to be developed” in the ongoing naphtha upgradation project, a source earlier said.