Bahrains first base oil plant was a large API Group III joint venture that opened late last year. The second is a tiny Group I facility on schedule to open next month.
KB Petrochemical Industries said this week that it is on the verge of opening a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year plant in the island nations South Alba Industrial Area.
Some of the product will go to applications such as knitting oils, transformer oils and anti-static oil, Managing Director Jahangir Hossain Patwary told Lube Report. A significant portion will go to non-lubricant uses such as inks and paints.
KB was created last year as a joint venture equally owned by Chairman Kanaan Naser Al Naser, of Kuwait, Vice Chairman Shaikh Hammed, of Bahrain, and Patwary. It is a subsidiary ofDiamond Industries, a Kuwait-based provider of construction, logistics, engineering and procurement services for the oil industry.
Patwary said KBs plant cost $15 million and receives feedstock from Bapcos refinery at Sitra, Bahrain. The refinery is also home to Bapcos base oil joint venture with Neste Oil, a 400,000 t/y Group III plant that opened last year.
Patwary said KB plans to use some of its base oils to produce its own lubricants and other products, while selling the rest to other manufacturers. The company already markets lubricants in India.