IIR Top Refining News Today

North America
Marathon, on July 12, experienced issues with the attempted startup of the 140,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit 3 (FCCU) at its 437,000-BBL/d Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas. Startup procedures are expected to resume by July 15. Separately, the 65,000-BBL/d Ultraformer 4 unit was shut down on July 11 for repairs, but restarted on July 12.

Irving Oil, on July 12, restarted the 74,000-BBL/d Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit 425 (RFCCU) at its 300,000-BBL/d refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick. The unit was shut down on July 10 due to unplanned issues. Separately, 60-day maintenance on six units is scheduled for September 2021.

Valero, on July 13, shut down the 110,000-BBL/d crude oil and 18,000-BBL/d delayed coker units at its 220,000-BBL/d Bill Greehey Refining East Complex in Corpus Christi, Texas, due to a mechanical issue. Both units are expected to be back online by the end of the week.

International
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), on July 3, restarted the 42,500-BBL/d Atmospheric Residue Desulfurization 2 (ARDS) Unit (Unit 12 - Train 2) at its 454,000-BBL/d (actual capacity: 348,400-BBL/d) Mina Abdulla Refinery in Kuwait. The unit had been under an unplanned shutdown since May 11 due to an issue in a steam generation unit.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) continues to operate the 150,000-BBL/d Crude Oil Distillation Unit (CDU) 1 at 90% at its 300,000-BBL/d Panipat Refinery in India, due to low demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit is tentatively expected to resume normal operations by July 25.

Showa Yokkaichi Sekiyu Company Limited has delayed the restart of the 155,000-BBL/d Crude 3 unit, and secondary and associated units, at its 255,000-BBL/d Yokkaichi Refinery in Japan, due to additional mechanical works needed. The unit previously was scheduled to restart today, July 14. Expectations are now to complete repairs and restart the unit by July 29.

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