Production Facilities

Luberef operates two base oil production facilities – Yanbu and Jeddah – strategically located on the Kingdom’s west coast for efficient access to domestic and international markets.

Yanbu Facility

Luberef’s primary production site, the Yanbu facility was commissioned in 1997 and originally designed to produce high-quality Group I base oils. It had an initial production capacity of approximately 300,000 metric tons per year. Until November 2017, the site produced aramcoDURA™ 150, aramcoDURA™ 500, and aramcoDURA BS™ 150.

Yanbu Growth I Expansion

A major milestone was achieved with the completion of the Yanbu Growth I Expansion at the end of 2017, which enabled the introduction of Group II base oil production. Following this expansion, Yanbu began producing aramcoPRIMA™ 70, aramcoPRIMA™ 110, aramcoPRIMA™ 230, and aramcoPRIMA™ 500, alongside aramcoDURA™ BS 150, as principal products. The expansion also preserved the facility’s ability to produce a broad slate of byproducts.

Currently Yanbu has a core focus on Group II base oils, alongside selected Group I grades, including aramcoDURA BS™ 150 and aramcoDURA™ 150. The facility also produces ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), naphtha, drilling fluids, marine heavy fuel oil (MHFO), asphalt, bright stock extract, and sulfur among its byproducts.

As a result of the Growth I Expansion, the Yanbu facility’s total production capacity increased to approximately 1.0 million metric tons per year, including 710,000 metric tons of Group II base oils, significantly strengthening Luberef’s position in higher-value base oil segments.

This increased Luberef’s total Base Oils production capacity (across both facilities) to approximately 1.255 million MT per year by the end of 2017. In 2021, the Yanbu facility’s production capacity increased to approximately 1.07 million MT following capacity enhancements in certain units through transformation initiatives. As a result, Luberef’s total Base Oils production capacity across both the Yanbu and Jeddah facilities reached approximately 1.345 million MT per year.

In 2023, further debottlenecking resulted in an additional 110,000 MT increase in Group II capacity, bringing Luberef’s total base oils production capacity to 1.455 million MT per year. Since 2025, Yanbu facility maintained an annual production capacity of 1.180 million MT.

Yanbu Facility — Production Process

• Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU): feedstock heated to a high temperature using fired heater.
• Hydrocracker: distillates produced by VDU are fed to the Hydrocracking reactor, unit output is known as Waxy or UCO streams.
• ISO De-waxer: сonverts wax into Base Olls through isomerization process using catalyst.
• Propane De-asphalting Unit (PDA). Process has two stages: 1) extraction; and 2) solvent recovery. The unit processes VDU bottom to produce Asphalt, in addition to De-asphalted Oil that is fed to FEU to produce BS 150.
• Furfural Extracting Unit (FEU): uses solvent extraction process to remove undesirable components from DAO and other distillates. Creating a stream known as Raffinate (equivalent to UCO) that is fed to MLDW.
• Mobile Lube De-waxing unit (MLDW): converts wax into Base Oils through thermal cracking process using catalyst.

Jeddah Facility

Commissioned in 1977, the Jeddah facility was originally designed to produce aramcoDURA™ 150 and aramcoDURA™ 500 Group I base oils. Over time, the site has undergone multiple debottlenecking initiatives and has strengthened operational synergies with the Yanbu facility.

These improvements increased the facility’s annual production capacity from approximately 180,000 metric tons to 275,000 metric tons by 2013, a level that has been maintained to date.

Jeddah Facility — Production Process

• Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU): feedstock heated to a high temperature using fired heater.
• Propane De-asphalting Unit (PDA). Process has two stages: 1) extraction; and 2) solvent recovery. The unit processes VDU bottom to produce Asphalt. In addition to De-asphalted Oil that is fed to Yanbu FEU.
• Furfural Extracting Unit (FEU): uses solvent extraction process to remove undesirable components from distillates. Creating a stream known as Raffinate.
• MEK De-waxing Unit: uses mixture of MEK and toluene to crystalize waxes to be removed, producing Group I Base Oils.