Thai Oil lets contract for Sriracha refinery’s clean fuels project

Thai Oil PLC has let a contract to McConnell Dowell Corp. Ltd. to provide civil works for the previously announced Clean Fuel Project (CFP) at its 276,000-b/d refinery at Sriracha, in eastern Thailand’s Chonburi province.

Thai Oil Sriracha clean fuel project.

McConnell Dowell’s scope of work under the contract—which was awarded by the consortium of Saipem, Petrofac, and Samsung Engineering delivering engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning services on CFP—includes both earthworks and civil works in both greenfield and brownfield areas to support the overall project of improvement and expansion to the existing refinery, including the addition of new complex processing units, all required utilities, and supporting installations, the service provider said.

With construction works already under way at the site and scheduled to be completed in 2021, the overall project is scheduled for startup in 2023, McConnel Dowell said.

A value of the civil works contract was not disclosed.

This latest contract follows Thai Oil’s previous award to Haldor Topsoe AS for licensing of its SNOX air quality-control technology to help secure compliance with air-emission regulations for a new energy recovery unit to be built as part of the CFP (OGJ Online, Apr. 15, 2020).

The $4.825-million CFP involves retirement of two crude distillation units (CDU). The addition of a fourth 220,000-b/d CDU to the existing third unit will raise the refinery’s total crude capacity to 400,000 b/d (OGJ Online, Mar. 18, 2020).

The project also will add a vacuum gas oil hydrocracker, a residue hydrocracker, a hydrogen manufacturing unit, a naphtha hydrotreater, a diesel hydrodesulfurization unit, a sulfur recovery unit, and an electric power plant fueled by residue pitch.

The refinery, now 100% dependent on light crude, will have a crude slate after completion of the project of 40-50% light crude, 5-15% medium crude, and 40-50% heavy crude.

The CFP also will improve product yields to 25% light distillate, 62% middle distillate, and 13% others, such as sulfur, long residue, and reformate, with no fuel oil.

As the private sector’s first megaproject in the Eastern Economic Corridor to position Thailand to become Southeast Asia’s energy hub, Thai Oil said the CFP additionally aligns with current global market conditions and changing regulations such as the reduction in fuel oil use by marine transport as well as production of Euro 5-quality gasoline and diesel for improved environmental quality.

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