His Highness PM lays foundation stone of KNPC Clean Fuel Project

KUWAIT, March 3 (KUNA) -- Under auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the foundation stone of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Clean Fuel Project (CFP) was laid at Mina Abdullah on Tuesday.
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah attended the ceremony, together with several Sheikhs, ministers, governors, Premier's Diwan advisors and senior state officials as well as Arab and foreign diplomats in Kuwait.
Following the ceremony, His Highness the Prime Minister stressed the momentousness of the CFP as a civilized achievement for Kuwait, revealing the country's keenness on promoting the oil industry so that it can be more effective in terms of power security.
It will help secure the oil sector a pioneering role in providing clean and safe energy, the Premier said in a press statement.
Kuwait's keenness on using its oil wealth must not come at the expense of the country's international commitments regarding protecting of the environment and curbing climate change, he noted.
The CFP adds a lot to the efforts by the Kuwaiti oil industry seeking to make the best use of the country's major wealth, enhancing the efficiency of oil products and consolidating their competitiveness on world markets, Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Saleh Al-Omair had told the ceremony.
Al-Omair expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir for sponsoring the event and to His Highness the Prime Minister for attending.
It is a key project in the KNPC's strategy and a major element in Kuwait's comprehensive development plan, Al-Omair added, referring to directives by His Highness the Amir to create of the country an international commercial hub.
In addition, the CFP is one of the biggest projects in Kuwait, with investments of KD 4.68 billion (about USD 15.78 billion), 20 percent of which will be invested on the local market.
The CFP will achieve a quantum shift in Kuwait's oil industry, as it will boost the capacity of the two refineries to 800,000 barrels daily, CEO of the KNPC Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi said.
The project will transform the two refineries at Mina Abdulla and Mina Al-Ahmadi into an integrated merchant refining complex that meets the diversified requirements of the world oil market, he added.
Al-Mutairi expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir for sponsoring today's ceremony and to His Highness the Premier for attending it.
According to the CEO, the CFP will provide the latest refining technologies to the Kuwaiti oil industry to improve the products quality, which is likely to open up fresh markets for exports. Moreover, modernizing the two refineries will reduce emissions to the limits set by the Environment Public Authority (EPA).
He noted that the KNPC is carrying out another strategic project: Al-Zour Refinery Project (ZOR).
This project is intended to build a grass root refinery at Al-Zour area, south of Kuwait City with a total capacity of 615,000 barrels per day.
The refinery has a strategic goal of supplying low sulfur fuel (less than 1 percent compared to current 4 percent sulfur fuel) to the local power plants. This will significantly reduce pollutant emissions and in that sense it constitutes a special importance to the environment.
Once the project is completed, the KNPC will enjoy a refining capacity of 1.4 million barrels daily, using about 50 percent of Kuwait's daily crude production, he pointed out.
Kuwait will thus be able to process half its production instead of exporting the crude, he said.
The CFP will provide thousands of jobs, Al-Mutairi said, noting that the KNPC has set a condition that 25 percent of the workforce in maintenance and services contracts must be nationals. (end) kt.msa