Oil and gas industry in Kuwait is the backbone of the national economy of our dear country. This industry forms an essential element in the progress and prosperity of the Kuwaiti society. Within this frame, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company "KOTC" celebrated on Thursday, March 19, 2015 the launch of the "New LPG Filling Plant" in "Umm Al Aish" area northern Kuwait.
This event comes in line with the implementation of KOTC/KPC strategic plans. By the end of 2010, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company signed a contract with the Korean Hanhwa Company for establishing and designing a liquefied gas filling plant in "Umm Al Aish" area to serve as a strategic alternative to the existing Plant in addition to increasing LPG production and the storage capacity for covering the domestic market demand resulting from the steady increase in the State of Kuwait population. The total cost of the project is about KD 54 million which will be built on an area of 150,000 square meters.
Since then a Kuwaiti team of highly qualified engineers from the KOTC's staff started direct oversight on the design and construction of the project by selecting the state of the art technology in liquefied petroleum gas industry worldwide for maintaining the highest engineering specifications and applying international standards and requirements for establishing an integrated plant that encompasses strategic inventory of LNG, advanced production lines, maintenance workshops and office buildings and gas transportation fleet.
KOTC insists on going ahead in implementing its strategic vision to provide its services at the highest international standards with Kuwaiti hands having experience, ambitions and efforts which really deserve appreciation and pride.
Brief Summary of the New Liquefied Petroleum Gas Plant (Umm Al Aish)
• This project will be built on an area of 150,000 square meters with production capacity of 15 million gas cylinders a year representing 160 % of the production capacity of the existing plant, (Shuaiba).
• The project aims at providing a strategic alternative to the existing plant in Shuaiba Industrial Area and increasing production to meet the growing demand on the liquefied gas in the domestic market. By commissioning the new plant, total production capacity of both plants has become sufficient to meet local market needs up to the year 2030, and the State LNG strategic stock has doubled and will be enough to cover consumers needs for more than fifty days.
• “Umm Al Aish” New Plant will cover the needs of the northern region of Kuwait City and the new cities within the urban expansion in Kuwait northern regions in line with the Housing Plan of the Public Authority for Housing Welfare such as Bubiyan Port and Hareer City.
• It should be noted that this project applies the latest LNG technology in filling liquefied gas cylinders where Flex Speed technology will be used at the filling centers so that their production capacity can be controlled whether by increasing or decreasing the speed at the production center to commensurate with the demand on liquefied natural gas in the domestic market.
• This project is characterized by the storage method of liquefied gas through mounded tanks which is the safest for storing liquefied gas globally in addition to environment preservation.
• The project includes a number of 6 mounded tanks with high efficiency levels providing the highest safety and quality international standards. The storage capacity reaches 2350 cubic meters per tank.
• The project encompasses maintenance workshops, stores, office buildings and gas transportation fleet.
As such, the project is the outcome of major efforts warmly exerted by faithful Kuwaiti citizens out of their strong held belief that nations will not rise up without the minds and souls of the country's people receiving all the support from their senior leaders in KPC, relevant authorities and government agencies.