Byco plans processing units for retail fuels

KARACHI: Byco Petroleum, the country’s biggest refiner, has planned to establish new processing units for converting furnace oil into environment-friendly retail fuels as the government is determinedly migrating to re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) from traditional energy sources.

Byco announced its decision to establish a diesel hydro de-sulphurising (DHDS) unit and a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit during an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday.

The units include among others, the diesel hydro de-sulphurising units, including the pre and post treatment plants, which include an amine system, sour water system and sulphur plant and the fluid catalytic cracking unit, including the pre and post treatment plants, which include vacuum distillation, selective hydrogenation process, alkylation, cat naphtha hydrotreater, cat reformer, dimersol, gasoline merox, sweet frac, C3/C4 splitter and gas con. The company said the additional processing units would enable Byco to reduce the sulphur content in the diesel it produces and converts furnace oil into gasoline and diesel.

“Today, we announce yet another decision taken to future proofing our business through continuous improvement of our systems and processes,” Byco’s Chief Executive Officer Amir Abbassciy said in a statement. “We have been planning and preparing for these upgrades at our refineries for some time.”

Byco said oil refiners have been facing significant difficulties since power producers were shifted towards re-gasified liquefied natural gas in place of the traditional use of furnace oil. Byco is the first refinery in the country to announce plans to resolve this crisis by upgrading its facilities to ensure environmental compliance and sustainable profitability. Byco already started exporting furnace oil to ensure smooth throughput.

In March, sales of furnace oil witnessed a steep decline of 63 percent year-on-year to 70,000 tons.

Currently, liquefied natural gas contributes 22 percent in the country’s energy mix, while its share in the country’s energy imports stands at 24 percent.

“The addition of the DHDS and FCC facilities will make Byco a stronger and more profitable entity and will make our products both more environmentally sound and competitive in the marketplace,” Abbassciy said. “We are thankful to our shareholders, stakeholders, the ministry of energy’s petroleum division, ministry of finance, ministry of commerce, OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) and our financial institutions.”

Byco Petroleum is engaged in the businesses of oil refining, petroleum marketing, and petroleum logistics. The company manufactures a wide range of petroleum products with a vision to achieve sustainable productivity and profitability while upholding high environmental, health and safety standards. It is the nation’s only firm having a dedicated single point mooring (SPM). Byco’s SPM is the only floating liquid port in the country, and the company employs a round-the-clock crew dedicated for the safety and security of the buoy and vessels in and around the SPM’s anchorage area. The SPM is the country's only terminal having a tier-3 oil spill response membership.