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REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: Refineries in Asia-Pacific raise runs as lockdowns easeLondon — Refineries in the Asia-Pacific are raising run rates as lockdown measures are eased, although others have brought forward works due to weak demand.--Indian Oil Corp. has raised crude throughput to 60% at its nine refineries with the restart of several process units that were suspended due to lockdown measures. After the lockdown came into force in March, the No. 1 state-run refiner cut its overall run rate by 25%-30% to adjust operations due to a slump in demand. At some refineries, throughput levels were brought down to 40%-45% during the first half of April. "We plan to raise crude throughput at our refineries to 80% levels by the end of May due to an improvement in retail demand for fuels amid a gradual relaxation of the lockdown," a company official said. --India's Reliance Industries Ltd. has been running its two refineries almost uninterrupted at its integrated Jamnagar petrochemical complex despite the lockdown, company officials said. India's No.1 private refiner operates two refineries at the Jamnagar complex -- one focused on the domestic market and the second on export markets. "The combined run rate has been almost normal during the lockdown period," one official said. --India's Chennai Petroleum Corp. has been maintaining a run rate of 35% at its Manali refinery as retail demand for refined products continues to be poor. Two of the three crude distillation units at the refinery have been switched off since the start of the first phase of lockdown. Currently, the refinery is running its biggest CDU and secondary units. --India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. is running at a 45% rate due to the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown. The state-run refinery, located in the southern state of Karnataka, has shut down its smallest 60,000 b/d capacity crude distillation unit, while the other two, with a combined capacity of 240,000 b/d, are operating at reduced rates. "The demand pick-up for retail fuels sales from heartland Karnataka is very slow despite some ease in the lockdown at some places," said a refinery official. --India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp. has been running its Mumbai refinery at an 85% run rate despite the nationwide lockdown. The company has been running its Vizag refinery at full capacity. --India's Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd has scaled up the average run rate for its four refineries to 75%, company officials said June 2, as retail fuel demand improves as the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown eases. In the initial phase of the lockdown, BPCL's average run rate was reduced to 65% of normal capacity. The run rate fell as low as 48% in the first half of April. BPCL's portfolio of refineries includes two standalone refineries at Mumbai and Kochi, both on the country's west coast. It also runs two facilities at Bina in central India and Numaligarh in the northeast of the country as joint ventures. BPCL cut its run rate by about a third during the first week of the nationwide lockdown as demand for petroleum products shrank. Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd intends to continue ramping up the operating rate at its standalone refineries in June, with run rates at its 310,000 b/d Kochi refinery in the state of Kerala expected to hit 90% by the end of June, a source with close knowledge of the refinery operations said. --Average capacity utilization for all categories of refineries in India fell 72% in April compared with 100% in the previous month, according to the latest survey of the oil ministry. The run rate was 101% in the year-ago month. India's demand for oil products fell 46% year on year in April to 9.93 million mt, or 2.6 million b/d, the oil ministry said. In April, state-run refineries recorded a 61% run rate compared with 97% a year ago. The flagship state-run refiner, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), recorded an average 53% combined run rate for all of its nine stand--alone refineries. India's number two state-run refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), registered a 70% average run rate as against 114% a year ago. In the joint venture refineries category, the run rate stood at 59% in April with Bina refinery in central India registering a 52% run rate. Private refineries recorded a 93% run rate in April against 107% a year ago. The private refiners' lower run rate was mainly due to lower processing at Reliance operated export-focused unit at 87% and Rosneft part-owned Nayara Energy at 85%. Reliance's domestic-focused processing unit operated at 103% in April. --Pakistan refineries are seeking a rescue package from the government to cushion their businesses as they try to cope with losses resulting from the lockdown and the sharp decline in crude oil prices, industry sources said. Refineries have been continuously holding meetings with the ministries of energy and finance, the sources said. Due to slower sales of petroleum products, refineries suffered inventory losses when the price of crude crashed in April. The lockdown in Pakistan started March 24, forcing a number of refineries to close their operations while others ran at capacities of 29%-50% as demand slumped, with only shipments of food, fruit and vegetables allowed. --Pakistan's Attock Refinery in Punjab has increased its run rate to 67% of capacity, due to higher demand. --Pakistan's Byco refinery has resumed operations. --Pakistan's National Refinery Ltd. resumed operations starting April 23. In an exchange filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, it said it is back in operation as a result of rising demand in late April and into May. The refinery temporarily closed all production on March 25. --Karachi-based Pakistan Refinery Ltd. is currently running at 60% of capacity. It previously cut its utilization rate to 50%. --Pakistan's PARCO Mid-Country refinery is running at 30%-40% of capacity. --South Korea's SK Energy in March reduced the crude run rate at Ulsan to 85%, from 95% a year earlier. It cut oil product output by 4.7% year on year to 71.71 million barrels in the first quarter after lowering its crude run rate in response to demand destruction caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a company official said. --SK Energy affiliate SK Incheon Petrochem had its crude run rate average 80% in the first quarter, down from 87% a year earlier but up from 50% in Q4 2019, when it underwent a 40-day full turnaround until early November. It did not reduce its run rate because it was already low at 80%, an official said. --South Korea's smallest refiner Hyundai Oilbank began a test run at the end of May for its No. 2 crude distillation unit with a capacity of 360,000 b/d at Daesan that has been shut from April 8 for maintenance, a company official said. "The company will soon start up the unit for commercial production," the official said. The refiner shut the No. 2 CDU on April 8 for maintenance, four months earlier than scheduled, due to sluggish demand of refined oil products in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. "The company conducted the maintenance earlier than the original schedule of August to cope with the falling refining margins of oil products and rising inventories," he said, noting the refiner has no plan for the maintenance of its No. 1 CDU this year. --South Korea's S-Oil Corp. did not reduce its run rates for the first three months of the year despite the coronavirus fallout. --Singapore Refining Company in April reduced the operating rate at its 290,000 b/d refinery on Jurong Island due to poor refining margins. --New Zealand's Refining NZ has shifted maintenance works at Marsden Point to March 2021, deferring the turnaround at the plant's crude distillation and gasoline producing units, the company said in a statement. The units were initially scheduled to shut some time in the second half of 2020, but restrictions on movement to contain the coronavirus pandemic have forced the company to review turnaround plans, Refining NZ said in the statement. The plant completed a partial catalyst change at its hydrocracking facility in March and other critical maintenance activities in April "to enable the continued safe operation of the plant until the rescheduled turnaround date," it added. In addition to postponing its major turnaround, the refinery also intends to place several processing units on standby in July and August to enable its domestic inventories to rebalance, the company said in the statement. The plant lowered run rates at end March as domestic demand for oil products fell amid a nationwide lockdown. Refinery throughput over March-April was around 4.7 million barrels, down by a third from January-February, the company said. Some reduction in rates was expected to continue until end August, S&P Global Platts reported earlier. --Caltex Australia's 109,000 b/d Lytton Refinery has shifted forward its scheduled turnaround. --Australia's Geelong prepared to shut the residual catalytic cracking unit and associated processing units, together with the smaller of the crude distillation units, from early May due to lower oil product demand. The "refinery's main crude distillation unit and all other processing units will continue to operate," and it is expected to process around 2.5 million barrels of crude per month, the company'also said. The RCCU was also slated to undergo major maintenance in late August, but as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the dates for the turnaround are currently under review, the company said, adding that the review will be completed by end-June. --Thai Oil has cut operating rates at Sriracha refinery by about 20% in response to falling demand. --Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical is planning to reduce operating rates after units that underwent maintenance restart, an official said. "We are thinking of a 10% cut for now. We will review the situation again and then decide," he said. During the turnaround, Formosa's refinery has been running at two-thirds of capacity. The company has not reduced operating rates at its other two CDUs, which are running at near full capacity, the official said. --PetroVietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical has postponed maintenance at its refinery at Dung Quat for a second time, to August 12, that was originally scheduled to start June 12 and earlier postponed to July 27, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic delaying the arrival of expert workers and parts, BSR said. --Indonesian Pertamina brought forward planned maintenance at its Balikpapan and Sungai Pakning refineries by shutting the CDUs due to lower fuel demand. The move will allow the refineries to operate optimally once conditions returns to normal, a company official said. Meanwhile, Plaju refinery reduced production. The company continued to operate its Balongan, Cilacap and Kasim refineries normally. --Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) will temporarily shut operations at the Tabangao refinery in the Philippines for approximately one month, Shell said. The shutdown, starting from mid-May, is due to "the significant decline in demand for oil products and the significant deterioration of regional refining margins" following the coronavirus pandemic. "The refinery will retain its flexibility to do an immediate startup should market and demand conditions improve or stabilize," the company said. Separately, Indian Oil Corp's two refineries -- Paradip and Haldia -- on the east coast withstood the onslaught of a super Cyclone Amphan in late May, company officials said. The worst cyclone of the century originated in the west of the Bay of Bengal and made landfall on the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast. This week, state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd's refinery in Mumbai has been running smoothly since the Nisarga cyclone made landfall on the west coast, company officials said. State-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's refinery in Mumbai has also been functioning normally since Nisarga made landfall, company officials said. Nayara refinery said the cyclone had had no impact on its operations, and that all necessary safety measures had been put in place as part of its onsite emergency plan. Meanwhile, Indian state refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. has been running normally after taming a smoke incident at its crude distillation unit, company officials said. The situation was quickly brought under control. The refinery has running at 100% capacity during the coronavirus lockdown that began March 25. |
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