• Sonatrach and Sinopec sign EPCC contract for new Arzew refinery unit
• Project aims to raise annual gasoline output from 550,000 to 1.2 million tons
• Investment aligns with Sonatrach’s plan to expand refining capacity

Sonatrach signed a contract on Monday, November 17 with Sinopec Guangzhou Engineering to build a heavy naphtha hydrotreating unit at its refinery in Arzew, in northwestern Algeria. The turnkey EPCC contract was signed in Algiers by Slimane Slimani, vice president in charge of refining and petrochemicals at the Algerian state oil company, and Wang Xiaowei, vice president of the Chinese firm.

The project, to be built on a 5-hectare site with a construction period of 30 months, is valued at 57 billion Algerian dinars (around 437 million $). The unit will have a processing capacity of 738,000 tons of heavy naphtha per year, which will increase the Arzew refinery’s annual gasoline production from 550,000 to 1.2 million tons.

Heavy naphtha hydrotreating is a refining process that uses hydrogen to remove impurities such as sulfur and nitrogen from this petroleum distillation product. This step is key to purifying it for later use, mainly as feedstock for the catalytic reforming unit that converts it into high-quality gasoline.

Sonatrach CEO Noureddine Daoudi said at the signing that the project is part of the company’s development program, which aims among other goals to strengthen its refining segment.

Sonatrach operates five crude oil refineries with a combined processing capacity of 27 million tons per year, as well as a condensate processing unit with a capacity of 5 million tons per year.

These capacities allow the company to fully cover Algeria’s fuel needs and export some products such as naphtha, fuel oil, base oils, and aromatics to other markets. Sinopec Guangzhou Engineering is a subsidiary of China’s Sinopec Group, specializing in the design and construction of industrial facilities in the hydrocarbons sector.