Yanbu refinery brings clean-fuel project online

Saudi Aramco has restarted its Red Sea Yanbu refinery, which it owns with ExxonMobil Corp., after nearly two months of maintenance to bring a new clean-fuel project online. The cost of the project is estimated to have cost US$2.5 billion.
The refinery, which is operated by Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Co. (SAMREF), has a capacity of about 400,000 barrels a day.
During maintenance, which started in March, SAMREF boosted the reliability of the fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and upgraded the refinery to produce cleaner fuels. The clean-fuels project is expected to reduce sulfur levels by more than 98% in gasoline by 2013 and in diesel fuel by 2016.
SAMREF is the supplier of gasoline in the western region of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is expanding its refining capacity to produce more gasoline and diesel fuel to meet rising domestic demand. State-owned Saudi Aramco owns and operates four refineries, with a combined refining capacity of one million barrels per day. The firm also has a 50% interest in SAMREF and in Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Co., a joint venture with France’s Total SA, which will also produce cleaner fuels.