BMP contracts before year end

DUBAI: Bahrain’s oil minister said he expects Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP) contracts to be signed before the end of the year, state news agency BNA reported.

Bapco will choose the winning bid in the near future, with final contracts to be signed before the end of 2017, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said.

FOQSCO pioneers CC for Haradh

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco’s Haradh Gas Plant has pioneered the use of Concrete Canvas (CC) in the construction of a pyrophoric treatment area, the works for which were carried out by Saudi-based Freih Bin Owaidha Al Qahtani Sons Co Ltd (FOQSCO).

This was the first application of this material as liner for pyrophoric treatment area in the world, says AbdulRahman O Lashkar, Environmental & Health Coordinator, Haradh Gas Plant (Full story on Pg59).

Total to begin Port Arthur restart

HOUSTON: Total may begin restarting its 225,500 barrel per day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery this week, Gulf Coast market sources said.

A Total spokeswoman said that refinery personnel were working on safely restarting the refinery since it was shut by Hurricane Harvey on August 30 and preparing for previously planned maintenance.

Total is beginning a planned two-month complete overhaul of the 76,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit this week. The work, which was delayed for a year, is the first complete overhaul in six years.

Kuwait tackles another offshore spill

DUBAI: Major oil exporter Kuwait is dealing with another crude oil spill off its southern coast, state news agency Kuna said, the latest in a series of unexplained leaks in the Gulf Arab state in recent months.

Kuna said the latest spill has been detected in the Ras Al Zour area, where Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) is building the Middle East’s largest oil refinery with a capacity of 615,000 barrels per day.