Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Refinery Faces Four Months CCR Shutdown

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). The Esmeraldas refinery, owned by the state owned company Petroecuador, is still facing major problems due to the catalytic reforming fire which occurred on May 3. The unit will remain shutdown until October 2007.

Esmeraldas refinery processes 65% of Ecuador’s fuel production, 40% of which is used for internal consumption. Problems at this refinery started on February 15, 2007 when the regenerator’s combustor stopped working. After this unexpected shutdown, Petroecuador had to call for emergency bidding. For details, view related April 18, 2007 news article – Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Refinery Faces Three Month Emergency Shutdown. Since maintenance work in FCCU is about to finish, Petroecuador expects to have this unit running by June 24, 2007. Maintenance work on Crude 2 and Vacuum 2, which started on May 7, 2007 when a furnace tube broke down, finished on June 11, 2007. Total investment for this latter turnaround was estimated at $350,000. Visbreaking units 1 and 2 are currently running at 70%; HDS, HDT diesel, HDT Naphtha and Nitrogen units are shutdown. Furnace tube problems in Crude 1 arising from coke accumulation are being reflected by its low 80% production. Petroecuador is planning to shutdown this unit for cleaning in August 2007.

The plant is currently processing 47% of its normal 110,000 barrels per day capacity since only six out of the total fourteen existing units are running.

Production will increase once Crude 2, Vacuum 2 and FFCU resumes operations; however, HDS, HDT diesel, HDT Naphtha, SRU 1 and 2 and Nitrogen units will remain shutdown until the CCR is back online by the end of October 2007. Problems during catalytic reforming have already been identified and are estimated to cost $500,000. For details, view related May 18, 2007 news article - Esmeraldas Refinery’s Production Capacity Faces Substantial Reduction. Bids for re-design, material supply, repairs, mounting and testing of furnace P2-H04 and boiler P2-V10 are still open, company will be selected in the following weeks. Maintenance work will last 120 days.

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