Project Profile
Value: US$8.8 billion
Location: Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui, Venezuela
Capacity: 190,000-b/d (October, 2016)
Start-up Year: 2018
Puerto la Cruz Refinery is located about 250 kilometres east of the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The project will upgrade refinery facilities to process heavy crude oil, with a capacity of 210,000 barrels/day, the project was producing 190,000-b/d in October, 2016. In addition, the EPC contract calls for the expansion of gasoline, diesel and aviation kerosene projects and other facilities.
Puerto La Cruz refinery is one of the largest oil refineries in the country and it supplies the domestic market and exports to other Caribbean countries such as Cuba and the Antilles. Also, at 50 kilometres (31 mi), José Plant is one of the primary processing facilities of the PDVSA and is a major refining hub for the crude extracted in the states of Monagas and Anzoátegui.
In 2007, JGC was awarded a contract for the FEED (Front End Engineering Design) work for this project, and in 2008 was made the designated engineering contractor for the HDH Plus® process. In 2010, JGC received a contract for a portion of the detail engineering and procurement support work for this project, and will now be seeing the project through to completion as project leader for the construction of the actual facilities.
Deep-conversion
As currently planned (2016), the deep-conversion project at Puerto La Cruz will involve the construction of 25 total new processing plants, including the following:
• A two-train, 50,000-b/d deep-conversion unit based on HDHPlus technology developed by Intevep, PDVSA’s research unit
• A three-train sequential hydroprocessing unit
• A 130,000-b/d three-train vacuum unit
• Associated auxiliary units, service units, interconnections, and tanks.
Upon project completion in June 2018, the refinery, which now runs light and medium crude oil, will be able to process 210,000 b/d of heavy and extra-heavy crude oil from Venezuela’s Orinoco region.
The modernization project also will include the upgrading of the refinery’s two atmospheric distillation units, according to PDVSA. To date (October, 2016), PDVSA has advanced a number of projects associated with Puerto La Cruz’s deep-conversion overhaul, the most recent of which include start of construction on 110 modules of piping that will connect the new HDHPlus residue hydroconversion unit to a new flare system and ongoing installation of a new sour-water stripper (Unit 84).
While PDVSA said in 2012 it expected a total required investment of US$5.2 billion to complete the deep-conversion project at Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro confirmed earlier in 2016 that the project is now budgeted at US$8.8 billion.
Operators:
PDVSA: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
Consortium for EPC contract:
Wison Engineering Ltd.(China)
Hyundai Engineering
JGC Corporation: FEED and EPC management services contract
Toyo engineering: PMC contract
Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd: Supply key modularised components
Sub contractors:
Technip: Install two 135 MMcfd hydrogen reformers for Wilson Engineering and Hyundai Engineering joint venture