The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has cancelled plans to build a new 400,000 bbl/d refinery at Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to adverse economic conditions that make the refinery project not economically attractive.
The company originally planned to build a 600,000 bbl/d greenfield refinery at Ruwais. A pre-feed contract for the project was awarded to the UK-based engineering firm Wood Group in February 2019. ADNOC later revised the project downward, focusing on developing a 400,000 bbl/d petrochemicals-focused refinery and a 200,000 b/d expansion and revamp of the existing 817,000 bbl/d refinery at Ruwais. The 200,000 b/d revamp and expansion was expected to be completed in 2024 and the new 400,000 bbl/d refinery in 2026.
The United Arab Emirates has a total of five refineries for a total capacity of nearly 1.2 mb/d, most of which is managed by ADNOC.