Backgroud

Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery (MAA) is located 45 km to the South of Kuwait City on the Arabian Gulf. It covers a total area of 10,534,000 m2. Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery (MAA) was built in 1949 as a simple refinery with a refining capacity not exceeding 25,000 bpd to supply the local market with its needs of gasoline, kerosene and diesel.

Following the establishment of KPC and the restructuring of the oil sector, ownership of the refinery was passed from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) which became responsible for the oil refining and gas liquefaction operations in Kuwait. 

In the early 1980’s as part of an overall plan to upgrade the refining industry and expand the refineries , work started on two ambitious projects to modernize Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery, namely the MAA-Refinery Modernization Project (MAA-RMP) (which was completed in 1984) and the Further Upgrading Project MAA-FUP (which was commissioned in 1986). 

Within the framework of these two projects, 29 new units were built at this refinery which has now become one of the world’s modern refineries in terms of both refining capacity, which exceeds 460,000 bpd and the advanced technology it employs.
Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery Modernization Project (RMP) was basically intended to provide the local and world markets with low sulphur -content petroleum products, and to reduce dependence on gas as fuel, providing cheaper and more stable fuel to the country’s power generation plants.
The Further Upgrading Project (FUP) was based on more comprehensive view of the future of petroleum product markets in order to maximize profits and ensure a stable market for the three refineries output. 

The project further sought to increase the share of light and medium products of the distillation process and minimize the share of fuel oil in the end output, resulting in a higher return from the crude oil refining processes.

The refinery now contains 29 new units, in addition to the old units, including the crude distillation units, the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit, the Atmospheric Residue Desulphurization Units, the Vacuum Rerun Unit and the Sulphur Recovery unit.
The project will see the construction of a fifth gas train at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery. The proposed gas train will separate associated gas produced in the north and southeast of the country into its basic components. The new train is expected to be of the same scale, processing more than 800,000 cubic feet of gas a day and 100,000 barrels a day of condensates.

Mina Al-Ahmadi History：

•  1949: 25,000-30,000 BPD Refinery commissioned under KOC.

•  1958/63: Refinery expansion to 190,000 PBD & 250,000 BPD respectively.

•  1978: Gas liquefaction plant was commissioned.

•  1981: Rhenformer Units commissioned.

•  1984: Transfer of MAA Refinery to KNPC.

•  1984: Refinery modernization project (RMP) untis commissioned progressively.

•  1985: Further upgrading project (FUP) units commissioning started.

•  1987: FCC was commissioned

•  1997: FCC unit capacity increased to 40,000 BPD (revamp), as part of MAFR. - PRU, MTBE, ALKAYLATION, and SAR units commissioning started.

•  2000: A mishap due to a leak in gas condensate line, led to a destruction of several facilities. Immediate rehabilitation took place to repair and replace the damaged facilities. New ATK MEROX unit was commissioned.

•  2002: New G.O.D is commissioned in April, 2002.

Brief Introduction

In addition to Secondary Units for Water Treatment Plant, Water Cooling Units, Sour Water Unit, Storage Tanks, etc… MAA has Main Units of:

1.MAFP Units:The Units produce lead-free Gasoline, MTBE, Alkenes and Propylene. Built in 1987.

2.FCC Unit:Fluid Catalysts Cracking Unit was built in 1987 with 40,000 bpd. Heavy Gas Oil is cracked into gasoline in this unit. Other products include LPG.

3.Eocene Distillation Unit:The unit refine 24,000 bpd of heavy Eocene oil to mainly produce Bitumen for the local market.

4.Sulfur Recovery Units:The Units handle 1,334 MT pd of Sulfur, the refining by-product. These units recover the Sulfur from the Acid Gas Removal Plants.

5.Naphtha Reformers:Contains a Naphtha complex to treat then separate the Naphtha into light and heavy products.

6.Gas Liquefaction Units:MAA has 4 Gas trains for processing of Gas produced either from KOC Oil fields or from KNPC Refineries. The Units recover Propane, Butane and Gasoline with 2,458 mmscfpd. Gas is used in power stations, local industries and domestic consumption. Condensations are also produced in these plants.

Offshore Facilities

The Offshore Facilities are used mainly for the export of Crude Oil, Petroleum and Sulfur. The Facilities were expanded several times to meet the increasing export demands. Sixteen loading arms were added to the South Pier and the 3rd & 4th Piers were upgraded in order for four (4) Oil Tankers to dock simultaneously with 9,000 tons per hour loading capacity.