Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) has signed an agreement with US contractor KBR for basic engineering design of a residue hydroprocessor to be installed as part of the Zarqa refinery expansion project. The agreement follows an earlier deal with KBR for licensing its proprietary slurry phase hydrocracking technology.

JPRC has long planned to expand the crude processing capacity of Zarqa from 70,000 b/d to 120,000 b/d, while increasing capacity to upgrade residual fuel oil into lighter products, to reduce its reliance on products imports. The project appeared to get a boost recently with an agreement with US process engineering firm Honeywell UOP to provide technology and services for the expansion (MEES, 12 May). (CONTINUED - 348 WORDS)