Assiut oil refinery in Egypt is undergoing an expansion and modernisation to meet the growing demand for petroleum products in Upper Egypt. The refinery upgrade is estimated to involve an investment of £2bn ($2.5bn).

Assiut National Oil Processing Company (ANOPC), a subsidiary of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), is executing the upgrade work at the Assiut oil refinery.

The Assiut oil refinery upgrade project will include the addition of a new naphtha complex and a hydrocracking complex.

Scheduled for completion in 2022, the expansion and modernisation project will further increase the refining capacity of the existing refinery, which currently produces 4.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of distillation crude.

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The upgrade project aims to convert lower-value petroleum products to meet the requirement for Euro 5-standard diesel and other high-value products.

Assiut oil refinery location and details

The Assiut oil refinery is located on a 1,037acre-site, approximately 400km south of Cairo, Assiut, Upper Egypt.

The refinery was established in 1984 to meet the demand for petroleum products in the Upper Egypt region. 

Naphtha complex at Assiut oil refinery

The modernisation programme at the Assiut oil refinery involves the construction of a new naphtha complex comprising naphtha hydrotreater (NHT), continuous catalytic reforming (CCR) reforming unit, and an isomerisation unit with a capacity of 660,000 tonnes per annum(tpa).

The new naphtha complex will also feature naphtha splitter and auxiliaries. With a capacity of 660-kilo tonnes per annum (Ktpa) of straight run Naphtha, the new naphtha complex aims to provide high octane and different grades of gasoline to meet the demand for petroleum products and derivatives in neighbouring provinces.

It will be powered through a new 3x75MVA, 220/11/6.6kV substation provided by GE. 

Assiut oil refinery hydrocracking complex

The new hydrocracking complex is an extension to the modernisation programme initiated by ASORC in 2015.

The hydrocracking complex at the Assiut refinery will employ TechnipFMC’s steam reforming proprietary technology.

The hydrocracking complex will feature new process units including vacuum distillation unit (VDU), diesel hydrocracking unit, delayed coking unit, distillate hydrotreating unit (DHU), hydrogen production facility unit, sulphur recovery unit (SRU), and sulphur solidification unit (SSU). It will also include interconnecting, offsites and utilities.

The complex will have a feed capacity of 2.5 of fuel oil and will produce 1.61Mtpa of crude oil along with 101Ktpa of LPG, 403Ktpa of naphtha, and 66.4Ktpa of sulphur.

It will convert lower-value petroleum products from ASORC’s nearby refinery into cleaner products such as Euro 5 diesel. 

Financing for Assiut oil refinery expansion and modernisation project

EGPC received £129.17m ($198m) loan facility from The Islamic Development Bank for the modernisation effort in June 2015.

Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE) has been engaged for the evaluation of project finance for the Assiut oil refinery upgrade. 

Contractors involved in Assiut oil refinery upgrade project

Technip, EGPC and ASORC finalised a joint agreement for the Assiut refinery modernisation programme in July 2015.

WorleyParsons was selected to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for both hydrocracking and naphtha complexes.

In May 2016, Bechtel signed an agreement with ASORC to provide process design of delayed coking unit for the Assiut refinery using its proprietary ThruPlus® coking technology.

A consortium of Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) and Amec Foster Wheeler is responsible for the construction of the naphtha complex.

In December 2018, GE ad ENPPI partnered for construction of a new substation at ASORC’s oil refinery to power the naphtha complex.

TechnipFMC was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by ANOPC for the construction of the hydrocracking complex at the Assiut refinery, in July 2020. The company was also contracted for the basic design of the hydrocracking complex.

ENPPI was awarded an EPC contract by ANOPC for vacuum distillate unit (VDU), distillate hydrotreating unit (DHU), sulphur recovery unit (SRU) and solidification unit (SSU) of the Assiut oil refinery upgrade project in 2018.