Clean fuels project puts Kingdom’s environment first

The Ras Tanura Refinery (RTR) has recorded a major milestone in environmental stewardship with the completion of an Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) system, which will see cleaner, environmentally friendly fuel distributed across the Kingdom.

The Aramco Project Management Team (PMT) handed over the new system to Ras Tanura Terminal (RTT) operations as part of the landmark Clean Fuel Project’s scope of work.

The development is expected to allow the commissioning and introduction of a new type of diesel with less environmental impact in the Kingdom’s network this year, thereby meeting government regulations and helping reduce emissions in urban centers.

The project was inaugurated by Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser in January and is now producing ULSD.

Significant environmental contribution

Refining and NGL Projects Department manager Megbel A. Al Shammari said the project would make a contribution to Aramco’s commitment to environmental stewardship.

“With the mechanical completion of the ULSD system within the RT Clean Fuels Project, we fulfilled our commitment to hand over the required systems to operate and supply transportation fuels to domestic as well as international markets in the most reliable and cost-effective manner, taking into account environmental regulations and specifications,” Al Shammari said.

Collaboration and pride

He added that the milestone had been made possible through effective collaboration with multiple stakeholders within Aramco’s organizations.

Project manager Basim L. Al-Shahrani spoke of the pride of the team involved, especially regarding the achievement of 50 million safe man-hours with zero lost time injuries. The achievement was a result of stakeholder’s engagement, collaboration, and a commitment to safety, setting a world-class standard for executing mega-projects in brown fields. 

The Clean Fuels Project is a part of Aramco’s corporate objective to intensify the focus on safety and the protection of the environment.

Multiple projects

A program consisting of multiple projects in Saudi Arabia was executed to comply with the future transportation fuels specifications in the Kingdom. 

This objective will be met upon completing the RTR Clean Fuels Project, which will support the company’s corporate objective to conduct activities in an environmentally responsible manner by upgrading the existing diesel and gasoline products at both the RTR and RTT. 

Reducing emissions

This budget item will help reduce ground level emissions in the Kingdom’s major urban centers ,as well as increase overall RTR gasoline production by 60,000 barrels per day.

During the project planning stage, the project team implemented continuous value improvement exercises, an in-depth safety assessment, a project risk assessment and its timely mitigation to optimize the ULSD system design, and an upgrade of the existing infrastructure and systems in accordance with the objectives.