KBR has been awarded a contract by PetroSA to conduct the pre-feasibility study to build a $6 billion crude oil refinery in Coega, Port Elizabeth.
The proposed crude oil refinery, called Project Mthombo, is expected to come on stream in 2014 to 2015. Project Mthombo could produce more than 0.2 million barrels of fuel per day.
The pre-feasibility study focuses on determining the economic optimum configuration for the refinery, including crude oil type and costs, required product slate, prices and specifications, and capital and operating costs.
The study is expected to take about six months to complete and will be conducted out of KBR’s Houston offices with support of KBR South Africa and Ilitha, a local engineering company. After the configuration has been approved, Project Mthombo will move on to the feasibility phase, which will define the engineering scope of the refinery.
John Quinn, president of downstream at KBR, said: KBR has a well-established track record developing downstream projects, accessing global resources and crude oil refining. We look forward to applying this expertise to PetroSA’s world-scale refinery project.