By George Gill
 
National Refinery Ltd. expects to start up a refinery expansion in Pakistan by 2016 that will produce 4,500 barrels day of base oil and 40,000 barrels of diesel fuel, according to a Jan. 26 Honeywell UOP announcement.
 
NRL operates three refineries and a petrochemicals plant in Karangi Industrial Park in Karachi, Pakistan, including the only lube production facility in the region, and processes almost 2.5 million tons of crude per year. Its base oil plant there currently has 3,500 b/d of API Group I capacity.
 
The refinery expansion project will also be in Karachi’s Karangi Industrial Park. “In regards to the capacity, this is 4,500 barrels per day over what is being produced today,” UOP spokeswoman Susan Gross told Lube Report.
 
By press time, Lube Report could not reach NRL for further details.
 
UOP said NRL selected its Uniflex processing technology for use in the refinery expansion. The technology helps refiners process the bottom of the barrel, the heaviest portion of a barrel of crude also known as vacuum residue, into higher-value transportation fuels.
 
Vacuum gas oil from the facility will be converted to diesel and base oil using UOP’s Unicracking technology and fuels dewaxing technology provided by an alliance between Honeywell’s UOP and ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. The alliance, formed in 2011, brings together EMRE technology for base oil production with UOP hydroprocessing solutions, which provide the high-quality feed stocks needed for lubricant production.
 
NRL is owned by the Attock Group.