ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Takreers first base oil plant has taken longer than intended to build, and it has also grown in size.
The refining arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. plans to open its base oil plant in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates, by September, an official told the ICIS Middle East Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last month. Adnocs Ahmed Saleh Al Hamed also said that the designed capacity for the facility is now 620,000 metric tons per year – 25 percent higher than when the project was first announced.
The plant, which will be the first base oil plant in the U.A.E., was originally conceived as a joint venture between Takreer, Finnish refiner Neste Oil and Austrian OMV Group. In December 2007 the companies announced the formation of a joint venture to build a 500,000 t/y plant, although the final investment decision had not yet been made. Three years later, after OMV had dropped out of the project, Neste said the facility would open in 2013.
Al Hamed, who is manager of base oils and special products for the Refined Products Division of Adnocs Marketing and Refining Directorate, said the plant will have capacity to make 500,000 t/y of API Group III stocks and 120,000 t/y of Group II. Around 50,000 t/y is earmarked for Adnoc Distribution, a marketer and distributor of petroleum products primarily in the U.A.E.
Takreer stopped referring to Neste as a partner in the project in 2013. Talking to Lube Report on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi conference, Thomas Guinot, Nestes global marketing and technology manager for base oils, said the companies still maintain a dialogue. We never stop talking, he stated.