A diesel hydrotreater (DHT) unit, which forms part of the Laffan Refinery 2, is expected to be ready by 2014, said Patrick Pouyanné, president (refining and chemicals) and senior vice president of Total.
Total, which holds a 10% stake in the refinery, recently signed a multi-partite deal with QP and other shareholders, which will see full expansion by 2016. The deal ensures capacity doubling to 300,000 bpd.
Asked whether there was any marketing commitment on Total’s part, Pouyanné said that would be taken care of by Tasweeq in line with the national (Qatar) policy.
“We are fine with that,” he told Gulf Times in Paris recently.
The new environment-friendly LR2 refinery, which will be operated by Qatargas Operating Company, will have a daily production capacity of 60,000 barrels of naphtha, 53,000 barrels of jet fuel, 24,000 barrels of gasoil and 9,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas.
In addition to the condensate refinery, the new plant’s configuration includes a gantry for dispatching diesel to the local market by trucks (in operation since last year) besides the diesel hydrotreater unit.
The DHT unit would have enough capacity to process all the light gas oil from both LR1 and LR2 into ultra-low sulphur diesel, which meets the most stringent environmental specifications.
Pouyanné said the project was a new step in the long history of partnership between Total and Qatar throughout the full value chain, from upstream exploration activity down through the petrochemical industry.
“A key link in this chain in the downstream activity of the refining of Qatar’s condensates, the world’s largest condensate producer,” he said.