1. Exxon Singapore Refinery – 592,000 BPD – Singapore
With a design capacity of about 592,000 barrels a day, the Exxon Singapore Refinery in Singapore is the largest refinery in South East Asia. It is also ExxonMobil’s largest in the world.
Located in Jurong Island of Singapore, the refinery became the largest as it is made up of the former Mobil and Esso refineries which operate as one facility, following the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999.
ExxonMobil recently completed the refinery expansion to upgrade of the production of its proprietary EHC Group II base stocks.
It also has an ongoing multibillion-dollar expansion to enable the refinery to convert fuel oil and other bottom-of-the-barrel crude products into higher-value lube base stocks and distillates.
2. Shell Pulau Bukom Refinery – 458,000 BPD – Singapore
Royal Dutch Shell’s refinery at Pulau Bukom in Singapore has the capacity to process 458,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
It recently completed the expansion to increase the storage capacity by nearly 1.3 million barrels by building two large crude oil tanks.
The refinery is the company’s largest wholly-owned Shell refinery globally in terms of crude distillation capacity.
3. Pertamina Cilacap Refinery – 348,000 BPD – Indonesia
With a total combined capacity to process 348,000 barrels of oil per day, the Pertamina Cilacap refinery consisting of Oil Refinery I and Oil Refinery II is Indonesia’s largest refinery. It is located in Cilacap in Central Jawa of Indonesia.
Oil Refinery I was constructed in 1974 with a design capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day. In 1998, to meet the growing demand for fuels and lube oil, the refinery underwent a Debottlenecking Project which increased its crude oil processing capacity to 218,000 BOP. The refinery was designed to process crude oil from the Middle East.
Oil Refinery II was built in 1981 with a design capacity of 220,000 BOPD. It is capable to process the crude oil from Indonesia and The Middle East.
4. Singapore Refining Corporation Jurong Island Refinery – 285,000 BPD – Singapore
Located in Jurong Island of Singapore, the Singapore Refining Corporation Refinery was originally constructed in 1979 to process 70,000 BOPD. It was later expanded to increase its capacity to 285,000 BPD.
Singapore Refining Corporation is currently owned by Chevron and PetroChina. PetroChina became a co-owner of the refinery following its purchase of Keppel Corporation’s stake in the refinery in 2009.
5. PTT Rayong Refinery – 280,000 BPD – Thailand
PTT Rayong Refinery started in 1996, is owned by PTT Aromatics and Refining Public Company. Currently, the refinery has a design capacity of 280,000 BPD following the completion of an expansion of its condensate splitting capacity and connected units in 2009.
The refinery is located in Sriracha, Thailand. PTT Group became the sole owner of the refinery when Shell International sold its 64 percent stake in the refinery to state giant PTT Plc.
6. Thai Oil Refinery – 275,000 BPD – Thailand
The Thai Oil Refinery is a large high complexity refinery capable of processing 275,000 barrels per day. Located at Sriracha, Thailand, the refinery was originally commissioned in 1961 with a capacity of 35,000 BPD. It underwent several expansions subsequently to increase its processing capacity to its current level.
Currently, the refinery is being further expanded and upgraded. The expansion project will increase daily crude throughput from 275,000 barrels to 400,000 barrels.
7. Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery – 260,000 BPD – Indonesia
The Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery has a very interesting and long history. It was built by Shell Transport and Trading Ltd in 1922, during the Dutch colonial times, following the discovery of oil in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan in 1897. The discovery was named Mathilda as it was drilled by Mathilda Corporation.
Pertamina acquired the refinery from Shell in 1966 and subsequently expanded the capacity of the refinery to its current level.
The refinery is currently being expanded further to increase its capacity from 260,000 to 360,000 BPD.
8. IRPC Rayong Refinery – 215,000 BPD – Thailand
Located at Rayong, Thailand, the IRPC Rayong Refinery has a capacity to process 215,000 barrels of oil per day. It is a large refinery and integrated petrochemical complex and is designed to handle condensate and crude oil.
9. Petron Bataan Refinery – 180,000 BPD – The Philippines
Located at Bataan in the Philippines, Petron Bataan Refinery has a designed capacity of 180,000 barrels per day. The refinery started in 1961 and is owned by Petron Corporation.
10. Petronas/Phillips66 Melaka II Refinery – 170,000 BPD – Malaysia
Located in Melaka, Malaysia, the Petronas/Phillips66 Melaka II Refinery has an installed capacity of 170,000 barrels of oil per day.
The refinery was commissioned in 1999 with an initial capacity of 100,000 BPD. Its crude oil processing capacity increased to 170,000 BPD after it underwent a debottlenecking project in 2007.
PETRONAS became the sole owner of the refinery in 2014 when it acquired the 47% stake of Phillips 66 in the refinery.
This article was written by Jamin Djuang, a published author of “The Story of Oil and Gas: How Oil and Gas Are Explored, Drilled and Produced” for readers who have not seen an oil field.
