Ecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery Fully Operational, Prepares for Overhaul in 4Q08

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petroecuador's 110,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Esmeraldas refinery finally began processing at normal capacity on July 29 when the 18,000-BBL/d fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) resumed operation. The FCCU went offline after a pipe collapsed in a cooling system in one of the unit's boilers on July 16. The lack of alum, used to purify water in the cooling system, caused the pipes to clog. It has been reported that a shipment of alum was not delivered because of the product's high prices. Therefore, untreated water was used to operate the unit, which led to system's failure. For more details, view related July 25, 2008, news article - Pipe Collapses in FCCU at Esmeraldas Refinery.

Ecuador's government has approved a $187 million budget to revamp, modernize and redesign the refinery, which is scheduled to maintain its current processing capacity of 110,000 BBL/d. The refinery will undergo a planned maintenance overhaul by the end of November 2008 that is expected to last 35 days. Modifications will include the installation of a new electric system. Chiyoda Corporation (TYO:6366) (Yokohama, Japan), which participated in the construction of the Esmeraldas Refinery, has signed an agreement with Petroecuador to carry out the maintenance overhaul, as well as the revamp and modernization project. Chiyoda presented a work proposal on August 6.

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