U.S. Refineries Budget $215 Million Over Next 18 Months for Maintenance Shutdowns on Gasoline and Diesel Hydrotreating Units

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With the rise of gas prices steadily increasing, the Petroleum Refinery Industry is under more pressure to maintain peak-performance gasoline and diesel production in regard to both quantity and quality. One of the key units used in the production process is the hydrotreating unit, which generally operates on a continual basis, with the main objective being the removal of sulfur and other compounds for purification of the refinery process stream.

The United States has 151 operational petroleum refineries. Of these, 124 refineries utilize the hydrotreating process, housing a total of 248 units. There are approximately 125 diesel hydrotreaters and 123 gasoline hydrotreaters. Due to high demand, keeping the gasoline and diesel production process in perpetual motion is essential for refineries. Strategic planning is imperative when deciding when to bring these units down for preventative maintenance and repairs. It is not uncommon for refineries to start planning major turnaround work years in advance. Looking at the next 18 months, the Petroleum Refinery Industry has $215 million of planned investments for maintenance turnaround projects on diesel and gasoline hydrotreaters.

Click on the image at right to hear a short podcast for Chris Paschall, VP of Refining for Industrial Info, and view a chart showing the distribution of refineries in the U.S.

Out of the nine U.S. regions, the Southwest and West Coast regions have the majority of refineries and undoubtedly have the largest number of hydrotreating units. The Southwest region has 42 refineries with approximately 61 gasoline and 45 diesel units, bringing the region's total to 106 hydrotreaters. The West Coast region is home to 23 sites, consisting of 41 operating hydrotreaters, with 16 gasoline units and 25 diesel units. These two regions also have the majority of the maintenance activity scheduled over the next 18 months, as well as investment spending surpassing the other regions.

For the remainder of 2008, the Southwest Region has eight diesel units scheduled for routine planned maintenance, forecasted at nearly $17 million. The region also has planned maintenance scheduled for five gasoline hydrotreater turnarounds, costing $23 million. The other shutdowns scheduled to occur in the remaining regions brings the total investment value for the last six months of 2008 to more than $50 million.

Although planning of turnarounds for 2009 is still in progress, the forecasted figures are impressive. The Southwest and West Coast regions are running a very tight race with the number of turnarounds planned. Both regions plan shutdowns on six gasoline hydrotreater units in 2009, and each region proposes to spend an estimated $32 million. The regions have also scheduled eight diesel units to be shut down for maintenance, costing an average of $26 million in each region, bringing the anticipated spending for hydrotreater maintenance in the two regions to $58 million. The total price tag of hydrotreater maintenance in all nine U.S. regions is $164 million.

Stringent environmental mandates for the Petroleum Refinery Industry are in place and require a reduced sulfur content of 30 parts per million in gasoline and 15 parts per million for ultra low sulfur diesel. With refiners planning turnarounds years in advance, the maintenance shutdown spending snapshot through the next 18 months is only a glimpse of what the future holds to ensure the efficiency and upkeep of hydrotreating units used in the production of clean fuels.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.