Bahrain Petroleum Company, or Bapco, has awarded a key resid-hydrocracking catalyst management contract to a joint venture headlined by energy giant Chevron, local reports have said.
The $240-million deal, the reports said, was the largest catalyst management agreement in Bapco’s history.
The aforementioned JV is the US-based clean-fuels-group specialist Advanced Refining Technologies or ART.
The company other than Chevron in the JV is the chemicals and materials firm WR Grace & Company.
As for the deal itself, it is said to be an exclusive five-year agreement, which includes an option to renew for an additional five years.
ART is also expected to supply its resid hydrocracking catalyst technology for a wide variety of feedstocks to boost bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading.
It will also reportedly provide full-cycle catalyst management services for the reclamation of metals from spent catalysts.
When fully operational in 2023, the new unit, known as 1RHCU, would be the main profit center for the Bapco Refinery, said a statement from WR Grace & Company.
The unit is expected to utilize LC-Fining process technology licensed from Chevron Lummus Global, a joint venture between Chevron and Lummus Technology.
The unit is a two-train design with a processing capacity of 65,000 barrels per day.