Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022 - 27

Special Focus Sustainability
A. BIN NASER and F. SHAMEEHA, Kuwait Integrated
Petroleum Industries Co. (KIPIC), Al Zour, Kuwait
IMO 2020 impact assessment study
on KIPIC Al Zour Refinery future operations
What is IMO 2020? As of January
2020, the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) has mandated that sulfur
shipping emissions must be reduced: the
regulation states that sulfur specifications
for fuel oil (bunker) have been reduced
from 3.5% (35,000 ppm) to 0.5% (5,000
ppm). The main purpose of the regulation
is to prevent acid rain and lower the
environmental effects.
Shipowners must switch fuel from
high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO), which has
a sulfur content of 3.5%, to very low-sulfur
fuel oil (VLSFO), which has a sulfur
content of 0.5%, marine gasoil (MGO),
install scrubbers, or convert to liquefied
natural gas (LNG)-powered systems
(FIG. 1).1
as catalytic crackers and hydrocrackers.
They also produce fuel oil but have more
options to produce lighter products to be
utilized in other processes. Full-conversion
refineries are considered the most
complex and have more options than
topping and cracking refineries. They
produce a small quantity of fuel oil, and
can switch between crudes and produce
higher quantities of lighter products
based on demand.4
For these refineries, options exist to
meet IMO 2020 regulations, including:
* Changing the crude slate
to sweet crudes
While scrubbers can burn
HSFO and extract the sulfur from it, ordering
and installing scrubbers in ships
can take as long as 8 mos-13 mos. The
last option for ships is to convert to LNG,
which is costly and presents uncertainties
in future supply and demand.2
One
thing is certain: the increased demand
for fuels with lower sulfur content is affecting
and changing the global market.
IMO 2020 impact on refineries. The
IMO 2020 will have a major effect on
refineries of all configurations. Topping
refineries, which use fuel as their main
product, are considered the least complex
configuration for refineries. Producing
high quantities of HSFO when
processing high-sulfur crudes means that
they must switch to lower sulfur crudes
(e.g., light sweet crudes) to meet specifications
and produce VLSFO. If the refinery
is unable to meet these specifications,
it will have to sell the HSFO and accept
the lower product demand and prices.3
Cracking refineries are medium-complex
refineries that contain such units
* Adding secondary processing
units, which can take years
to build
* Revamping units to produce
lighter products with
low-sulfur content
* Producing MGO as the main
supplier for fuel for ships
* Blending lighter products with fuel
oil to meet the fuel specifications.
Predicted prices before 2020. Many
refiners began switching to produce
VLSFO and MGO prior to the implementation
of IMO 2020. Prices for sweet
crudes with low-sulfur content were predicted
to rise due to anticipated high
demand to meet the specification, while
prices for sour crudes with high-sulfur
content were predicted to fall.4
Prices for
VLSFO and MGO were also forecast to
rise, with MGO prices increasing more
than VLSFO in conjunction with higher
diesel demand.
VLSFO pricing was anticipated to
increase by 11%-23%, while one report
predicted that the price increase could be
as high as 50%.1
HSFO, which comprises
70%-80% of the price of crude oil, was
predicted to decline at the beginning of
2020.5
It was predicted that refineries
that produce high quantities of diesel and
low-sulfur fuel oil would gain significant
margin growth for those products, as they
were producing a blend of gasoil and fuel
oil to meet the 0.5% sulfur requirement.
FIG. 1. Types of fuel that can be used as bunker.
Hydrocarbon Processing | JANUARY 2022 27
Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022

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