Kuwait National Petroleum

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company is the national oil refining company of Kuwait. Established in October 1960, KNPC handles the responsibility of oil refining, gas liquefaction, and distribution of petroleum goods within the local market.

History

Established in October 1960 as a share-holding company owned by the Kuwait government and private sector, KNPC became fully government-owned in 1975. Since 1968 the company had been exporting petroleum products from its Shuaiba Refinery. In 1980, following the restructuring of the oil sector in Kuwait, KNPC was placed under the newly-created Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which was also government owned. Under this position, KNPC took control of distributing petroleum products within Kuwait, along with the ownership of the Mina Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries.

Refineries

* "Mina Abdullah refinery": Built in 1958 by the American Independent Oil Company, Mina Abdullah was passed to the Kuwaiti state in 1975 and transferred to KNPC in 1978. Spanning 7,835,000 m², and located 46km south of Kuwait City, Mina Abdullah is capable of refining convert|270000|oilbbl/d|m3/d (BPD).

* "Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery": Initially built in 1949, the refinery was handed over to KNPC in 1980. Spanning 10,534,000 m², it is located 45km south of Kuwait City with a production rate exceeding convert|415000|oilbbl/d|m3/d|abbr=on.

*"Shuaiba Refinery": Built in 1966, Shuaiba Refinery was the first refinery in the region to be built by a national company. The refinery spans 1,332,000 m² and is located 50km south of Kuwait City within the Shuaiba Industrial Area. The refinery has a capacity of convert|195000|oilbbl/d|m3/d|abbr=on.

*"Al Zour Refinery": KNPC released plans to build a fourth refinery known as Al-Zour in July 2007. The refinery is expected to have a capacity of convert|615000|oilbbl/d|m3/d|abbr=on, making it the largest refinery in the middle east. In May 2008, Kuwait National Petroleum Company awarded the four remaining EPC contracts: Process Package 1 was awarded to the Consortium of JGC Corporation and GS Engineering & Construction, Process Package 2 was awarded to SK Engineering & Construction, Storage Tanks Package was awarded to Daelim Industrial Company, Marine Works Package was awarded to Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and The Offsites & Utilities package was awarded to Fluor Corporation. [ [http://www.zawya.com/projects/project.cfm/pid220207010112?cc KNPC - Al Zour Refinery ] ]

See also

*Kuwait Oil Company
*Economy of Kuwait

References

External links

*http://www.knpc.com
* [1] http://www.zawya.com/projects/project.cfm/pid220207010112?cc accessed June 07, 2008