Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC), an affiliate of the national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), has commissioned the gas pipeline that will feed its 615,000 bbl/d Al-Zour Refinery project. The US$16bn refinery project will entail two other separate facilities apart from the refinery, i.e. LNG processing facilities and a petrochemicals complex. The refinery is expected to start operating in 2021.
The country currently has 2 refineries, adding up to a total capacity of 736 000 bbl/d, namely Mina Al-Ahmadi (466 000 bbl/d) and Mina Abdulla (270 000 bbl/d, with a 64,000 bbl/d expansion under way), that are under moderisation process. The 200 000 bbl/d Shuaiba refinery was shut down in 2017. Once all the current projects are complete, Kuwait's refining capacity will reach 1.4 mb/d. The country aims to raise its refining capacity to 2 mb/d and is considering developing a 615,000 bbl/d refining complex near Al-Zour (no further detail so far).