Algeria’s national oil company, SONATRACH, has signed a contract with Chinese firm SINOPEC Guangzhou Engineering Co., Ltd for the construction of a hydrotreating and reforming unit for naphtha at the Arzew refinery.
The agreement was witnessed by the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mr. Mohamed Arkab; the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SONATRACH, Mr. Nour Eddine Daoudi; as well as senior executives from both companies.
Under the EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) arrangement, the unit will be built by SINOPEC Guangzhou Engineering Co., Ltd and will cover an area of 5 hectares at the Arzew refinery.
The project is expected to be completed within 30 months.
With a processing capacity of 738,000 tons of heavy naphtha per year, the hydrotreating and reforming unit will increase the refinery’s gasoline production capacity from 550,000 tons to 1.2 million tons annually, thereby enhancing the country’s overall gasoline output.
SINOPEC Guangzhou Engineering Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of the SINOPEC Group, specializes in designing and constructing processing units in the oil and gas sector and provides engineering, procurement, and construction services.
The contract forms part of SONATRACH’s development plan to expand the refining sector and meet gasoline demand in the western and south-western regions of the country.
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