Ruwais refinery has witnessed increases and expansions in stages, but the long-term plans aims at raising the current refining capacity in the giant Ruwais complex by 922 thousand barrels per day to reach 1.5 million barrels per day. Thus it becomes the largest refinery in the world, exceeding the Jamnagar refinery in India which has a capacity of 1.24 million barrels per day.

As part of a long-term investment plan for 5 years, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) plans to transform the city of Ruwais, located on the coast of the Arabian Gulf in the west of the UAE, into a global refining and petrochemical center, by spending investments in the amount of $ 45 billion.

ADNOC is proceeding with successful and steady steps in its vital Ruwais project “Enhancing Flexibility of Crude Oil Refining Operations Project,” with investments of 3.5 billion Dollar (12.8 billion dirhams).

The project aims to develop the capabilities of the UAE in refining industry and to enhance the role of the Ruwais complex as a major engine to accelerate industrial growth in Abu Dhabi in particular and the UAE in general.

The company stated in a statement that the project has completed the largest part (73%) of which allows ADNOC to process the upper Zakum crude extracted from the offshore oil fields in Abu Dhabi, along with 50 different types of other raw materials, after its refining operations were mainly relied on processing Murban crude extracted from onshore fields in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for a period of 40 years. The project will contribute to increasing the value of every barrel of oil ADNOC produces and processes, by enhancing the profit margin of refining operations, in addition to making it possible to export more of Murban crude, which is of high value.