SASREF Upgrades Control Facilities

JUBAIL, January 13, 2010 - Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co. (SASREF) recently inaugurated its refurbished Central Control Room and the Instrumentation Master Plan (IMP) Project.

SASREF chairman Abdul Rahman F. Al-Wuhaib cut the ribbon at a ceremony on Dec. 14, accompanied by SASREF’s Board of Directors, the management team, and president and CEO of Yokogawa Middle East Akira Ogawa

In his address, Al-Wuhaib said he hoped SASREF’s “leading-edge technology, optimal utilization and obsolescence abatement will further boost its international competitiveness as a firmly established pacesetter refinery.”

The IMP project, according to SASREF president Abdulhakim Al-Gouhi, is to ensure reliable operations and to inspire best-in-class achievement and performance in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions

IMP project manager Ahmad Al-Abdrabbuh said IMP major accomplishments include the replacement of SASREF’s obsolete relay-based Instrumented Protective System (or safeguarding system) and relevant field instruments, the replacement of SASREF’s obsolete Distributed Control System, the replacement of other obsolete stand-alone automation systems and applications, and integration of the new facilities with the upgraded systems and instruments from prior stages of the IMP.

SASREF is a 50/50 joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Shell. It is an export refinery where Arabian Light Crude is upgraded into high-quality refined products, including kerosene, naphtha, benzene, fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas. It has a production capacity of 305,000 barrels per day.