Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 124

History of the HPI
* Kuwait invested more than $30
B on the Clean Fuels Project and
615,000-bpd Al-Zour refinery
(FIG. 2) to become the region's
leader in clean fuels production
* Oman invested and continues to
invest more than $15 B to boost
processing infrastructure
* Saudi Arabia has and continues to
invest tens of billions of dollars in
refining and petrochemical capacity
additions as part of the country's
Vision 2030 initiative
FIG. 2. Construction on the 615,000-bpd Al Zour refinery in Kuwait. The refinery was
commissioned in 2Q 2022. Photo courtesy of Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co.
the country's pursuit of a nuclear program.
These sanctions had the potential
to knock more than 2 MMbpd of Iranian
oil exports off the market and lead Iran to
retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz,
a narrow waterway between the Persian
Gulf and the Gulf of Oman-approximately
one-third of waterborne oil shipments
pass through the strait daily.266
However, the forecasted oil consumption
never materialized, and prices took
a freefall. From 2014-2016, global oil
prices fell from $120/bbl to less than
$30/bbl. The significant decline in oil
prices severely dented Middle Eastern
oil revenues, the primary source for the
region's economies.
Although several capital-intensive
FIG. 3. View of Roberts' exploding torpedo.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office.272
shareholder in the company.8
More than
100 yr later, the Middle East has not only
become a major oil producing and exporting
region but has also invested heavily
in the production of transportation fuels,
petrochemical products and natural gas.
Major regional investments in hydrocarbon
processing plants accelerated
in the 2010s, primarily due to dramatic
volatility in crude oil pricing. In 2012,
global crude oil prices skyrocketed to
more than $120/bbl due to an improving
global economy, increased oil demand,
oil speculation and Iranian sanctions.265
Western nations sanctioned Iran due to
124 SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
projects had been announced in the region
prior to the crude oil price plunge
(e.g., aromatics and methanol plants in
Oman; Borouge 2 construction in the
UAE; and major projects by NATPET,
PetroRabigh, SATORP and SADARA in
Saudi Arabia), nearly all Middle Eastern
countries announced major capital investments
in new hydrocarbon processing
capacity to both mitigate the reliance
on oil export revenues and diversify their
product portfolios.267
These investments
focused on grassroots refining and petrochemical
facilities, clean fuels production,
integrated complexes and natural
gas infrastructure (e.g., gas processing
plants, LNG terminals, pipelines).
For example, the following are major
investment commitments-many capital
programs continue into the mid- and late2020s-from
various Middle Eastern nations
since the mid-2010s:
* Qatar is investing $30 B to increase
domestic LNG liquefaction
capacity from 77 MMtpy to
more than 125 MMtpy by 2027
* The UAE continues to invest
billions of dollars to expand
domestic refining capacity and triple
petrochemical production capacity
as part of Abu Dhabi National Oil
Co.'s (ADNOC's) 2030 Strategy
* Bahrain continues to invest billions
to expand and modernize its
refining industry
* Iran, despite years of sanctions, has
and continues to invest heavily in
increasing domestic refining and
petrochemicals capacities.
These investments have not only created
millions of jobs within the region
but have also provided Middle Eastern
nations with new high-quality products
for export to the global market, providing
tens of billions of dollars in trade revenues.
U.S. shale transforms the U.S. processing
landscape. One of the most impactful
events in the history of the U.S. hydrocarbon
processing landscape was the
discovery of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
Although the technology came into
prominence in the 2000s, the history of
fracking dates to the 1860s. During the
Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia in the
U.S. Civil War, Colonel Edward A. L. Roberts
noticed how exploding Confederate
artillery rounds affected a narrow canal on
the battlefield. This observation was the
genesis of the technique Roberts called
superincumbent fluid tamping.268
According
to literature, superincumbent fluid
tamping is when water dampens an explosion,
preventing any debris from blowing
back up the well hole, thus amplifying its
effects.269
This technique spawned Roberts'
invention of the exploding torpedo,
which he believed could be used in the
burgeoning oil production industry.
http://www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022
