Adnoc Distribution plans to build a lubricants manufacturing plant at Khalifa Industrial Zone (Kizad) to service industrial and retail customers throughout the country.
The company, which is the petrol stations, motoring and industrial products distribution arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said yesterday it plans to complete a plant with output capacity of 100,000 tonnes by 2022, with plans to double that capacity at an unspecified later date.
Adnoc Distribution said it would also build “strategic storage warehouses” to support its distribution operations in different emirates.
The new facility is being built partly to provide a strategic backup to the Mussaffah Terminal facility on the western side of the city, as well as to provide employment and economic diversification under the country’s Vision 2030 plan.
The plant will make vehicle, marine and industrial lubricants, as well as greases and speciality fluids used in industry.
The hub will also supply transport fuels – diesel, E Plus-91, Special 95, plus jet fuel to Abu Dhabi International and Maktoum International airports – as well as pipelining gas oil to the Al Taweelah power and desalination complex.
“We have clear direction for expansion,” said Saeed Mubarak Al Rashidi, Adnoc Distribution’s acting chief executive, adding that “we are keen to enter strategic partnerships … to search for opportunities that will support our need to meet growing demand”.
The new Kizad facilities will be in partnership with Abu Dhabi Ports, with the two parties signing a “Mustaha agreement” to give 50-year land rights for the plant operator, with the possibility to renew for another 50 years.
Total fuel storage capacity at Kizad, which is about halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will be 545,000 cubic metres.
Adnoc Distribution’s facility will also include a jetty to receive products from the Adnoc refinery at Ruwais, about 278 kilometres south-west of the capital. The refinery’s capacity was doubled last year to 800,000 barrels per day of output, including a range of transport fuels and industrial products.
amcauley@thenational.ae
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