Assiut National Oil Processing Company (ANOPC) has inked an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with TechnipFMC valued at $2.8 billion, according to a press release.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla witnessed the virtual signing ceremony where TechnipFMC also signed subcontracts with Enppi and Petrojet.

TechnipFMC will construct a new hydrocracking complex for the Assiut refinery in Egypt. The new complex will utilize the nearby Assiut Oil Refining Company’s (ASORC) refinery by transforming its lower-value petroleum products into higher-value petroleum products that meet European standards. Such products include; diesel, high octane gasoline, and butane.

The mazut hydrocracking complex will have a production capacity of about 2.8 million tons per year (mmt/y) of diesel of European standard. It also has a production capacity of 400,000 tons per year (t/y) of high-octane gasoline produced from naphtha and 100,000 t/y of butane, in addition to a production capacity of 300,000 t/y of coal and 66,000 t/y of sulfur.

Per the contract, new process units will be added to the refinery including; a vacuum distillation unit, a diesel hydrocracking unit, a delayed coker unit, a distillate hydrotreating unit, and a hydrogen production facility unit. TechnipFMC’s steam reforming proprietary technology will be employed within these units.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla stated that this is the largest oil refining project in Upper Egypt in addition to being one of the most important refining projects being implemented during the current period. This project aims to secure the needs of the local market of fuel supplies and to reduce imports.

The project will also achieve a great return on investment (ROI) in the field of development for Upper Egypt and will cover its needs for petroleum products and fuel supplies.

President of Technip Energies Catherine MacGregor commented that “Assiut is considered one of the major strategic projects needed to meet growing local demand for cleaner products, and we are extremely honored to have been selected by ANOPC to contribute to the largest refining project to be implemented in Upper Egypt.”

TechnipFMC is currently working with ANOPC to meet the remaining conditions so as to commence the work accordingly.