State-run refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has announced plans to invest US$25bn in new downstream projects over the next 20 years. This will encompass in particular the construction of a new refinery in order to bring the country's total refining capacity to 2 mb/d by 2035 from the current 762,000 bbl/d.
Kuwait is currently modernising its two existing refineries, namely Mina Al-Ahmadi (466,000 bbl/d) and Mina Abdullah (270,000 bbl/d). The 95,000 bbl/d Shuaiba refinery was shut down in 2017. Besides, it is building a greenfield 615,000 bbl/d facility in the Al-Zour region, which is slated to become operational in 2020 or 2021. Once all the current projects are complete, Kuwait's refining capacity will reach 1.4 mb/d.
In order to reach the 2 mb/d target, a study for the construction of a fourth refining complex is being carried out. The project would have to be of similar size to the 615,000 b/d Al-Zour complex. It is likely to be located in Al-Zour as well but no concrete information has been given so far.
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