Bapco Energies eyes fourth quarter completion for refinery expansion

Alexander van Veldhoven said that the group chief strategy officer of Bahrain's state oil company Bapco Energies, Alexander van Veldhoven spoke at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore on Monday.

He said that the expansion would increase Sitra's refinery capacity from 265,000 barrels per day to "just below 400,000 barrels per days".

"We are at the end of this program. He added that the majority of units were already up and running. "We are getting close to commissioning our last refinery units," he said.

According to the company's website, the refinery expansion would increase production of ultra-low sulphur jet fuel and ultra-low sulfur diesel by 72%.

Van Veldhoven stated that the refinery will also produce more naphtha.

Bapco Energies plans to continue importing heavier crude oil for its expanded plant.

Van Veldhoven said: "It's undeniable that when you build hydrocrackers, which can go deeper into the barrel, we will be moving away from running only sweet Arab crude from the Saudi-Bahrain Pipeline."

Van Veldhoven replied that there is a "plan for further cooperation" when asked about its joint venture with Total Energies.

The Bahraini oil major signed an agreement to be a trading partner with TotalEnergies last year.

(source: Reuters)