KUWAIT CITY: A gasoline unit at Al-Ahmadi refinery untouched by a deadly explosion that brought production to a standstill last month is expected to be back in operation from July 25, a senior Kuwaiti oil official said yesterday.
"The unit is currently undergoing final testing and is expected to be ready for operation on July 25," said Rajeh al-Omair, head of public relations at Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC).
All of the unit's production of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of fuel will be used for domestic consumption, Omair said.
At the time of the explosion the unit had been undergoing repairs.
KNPC, which owns all the three refineries in Kuwait, has already resumed operation in two of the three Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) lines at Al-Ahmadi which produce 1,120million cubic ft (33.6mn cu m) a day. The third line was standing as a reserve.
Al-Ahmadi refinery, which has a capacity of 450,000 bpd, representing half of Kuwait's refined oil exports, has been completely shut down for damage assessment following the June 25 explosion in which six people died and 50 were injured.
According to an initial assessment, an oil distillation unit with a capacity of 122,000 bpd was extensively damaged and another with 120,000 bpd capacity suffered medium damage in the explosion caused by a gas leak.
A third unit with 200,000 bpd capacity escaped unaffected by the blast and is expected to resume production shortly. - AFP
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
