Site

• Location: Skikda, 500 km East of Algiers
• Capacity:
  • Crude oil refining (RAK1): 355,000 bbl/d (16.5 million tonnes/year)
  • Condensate refining (RAK2): 122,000 bbl/d (5 million tonnes/year)

23^rd Feb 2024

Commissioned in 2009, the Skikda condensate refinery (RA2K) is a "master asset" in Sonatrach's strategy to support Algeria's economy and energy security, indicated its director, Hassan Bouadam.

The RA2K refinery enables Sonatrach Group to fulfill all its commitments to foreign clients regarding energy products, making it an "added value" to the national economy, emphasized the same official.

While specifying that the refinery processes 5 million tons per year of condensate, a type of light, clean oil containing few pollutants, Mr. Bouadam indicated that the refinery, which performs refining through atmospheric distillation, was ISO 9001 certified in 2015 for quality standards.

According to the same official, the Skikda condensate refinery is "the only one processing light condensate oil at the national level." It processes, in accordance with international standards, 5 million tons of condensate per year from the Haoud El Hamra region in Ouargla wilaya, of which 83% is naphtha (about 4 million tons), highly sought after for export. Naphtha, a liquid mixture of light hydrocarbons, is mainly used in petrochemistry where it enables, notably, the production of ethylene and propylene, which in turn allow the production of plastic materials.

The refinery also produces about 1 million tons of energy products intended for the local market and contributing to the country's energy security, such as butane gas with production estimated at 150 tons per day, kerosene (aviation fuel), and gas oil.

The Skikda condensate refinery, located in the industrial zone east of Skikda, covers an area of 45 hectares. It includes several units: condensate distillation, propane/butane separation, vacuum unit for heavy gas oil treatment, kerosene treatment, product storage and transfer unit, and utilities production and water treatment unit.

(Source)