SK Engineering and Construction Co. announced Thursday that it shipped the largest ever crude column to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

A crude column is an essential part of a refinery that is used to separate different fuels from heated crude oil, the company said.

The company said that it loaded the 1,261 metric ton, 93.3 meter-long crude column onto a ship bound for Abu Dhabi port where it will be transported to the site of the Ruwais Refinery expansion project the company is carrying out. The crude column is scheduled to arrive in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 27.

According to the company the crude column is the largest piece of equipment of its kind, and that its daily production capacity of 400,000 barrels is also the largest among existing crude columns. According to SK E&C, the largest crude column currently in use has less than a 200,000 barrel production capacity.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)