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Shuaiba

The first National Oil Refinery ever to be built in the region. The cornerstone was laid in 1966 and SHU was commissioned in April 1968 with production capacity of 95,000 bpd. SHU was a turning point in KNPC history as it was The Company’s first Refinery. 

As it was the world’s first all-Hydrogen Refinery, SHU could process relatively high Sulfur Heavy Crude. This provided flexibility to produce high quality products for export to international markets. The Refinery was destined to closure in April 2017; however, the tanks and export facilities will be utilized as part of Clean Fuel Project.

SHU Refinery is connected through a network with MAB and MAA. The export facilities at MAA are used for exporting SHU products. The network helps also in mixing and storing of various products and gives the three Refineries flexibility to respond to international markets’ needs.

Key Facts

Major Milestones

  1. 1968
  2. 1975
  3. 2006
  4. 2017

  1. 1968

    Commissioned in April 1968 with 95,000 bpd of production capacity

  2. 1975

    Capacity increased in 1975 to 195,000

  3. 2006

    2006 commissioning of Tail Gas Treatment Unit which reduces SO2 gas by 80%

  4. 2017

    Closed in March 2017.

Main Units

In this 200,000 capacity Unit, Crude Oil is separated by fractionation into other raw products, such as Naphtha, Kerosene, Light  and Heavy Diesel, Vacuum Gas Oil and Vacuum Bottom. These products are used as feedstocks in other processing units.

The Unit produces Reformate (a high-octane motor gasoline-blending component) with a 15,800 bpd capacity. It also produces Hydrogen to be used in the Unifiers.

The Unit processes 50,000 of Heavy Bottoms.  By using Hydrocracking with Catalysts, it converts the heavy feed into high value distillates (Naphtha, Kerosene, Diesel, Gas Oil) with very Low Sulfur content. 

Export Facilities

The finished products are exported through the Oil Pier at Shuaiba Seaport with 4 loading points. The loading capacity is 1,600 tons/hour for light products (Naphtha & Benzine), 2,200 tons/hour for middle (Kerosene & Diesel) and 2,600 tons/hour for heavy products (Diesel & Fuel Oil).