Major Turnaround Under Way for Repsol's Ethylene Cracker in Portugal

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Cordoba, Argentina)--During the first week of May, Repsol's (Madrid, Spain) polymer complex in Sines, Portugal, began a major maintenace shutdown for its ethylene cracker, polyolefins and butadiene units.

This ongoing turnaround is planned to have a duration of approximately 40 days and is expected to be completed by mid-June. Major maintenance work will be performed at the 410,000-metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker, which has eight ethane and naphtha furnaces; the polyolefin area, consisting of a 150,000-metric-ton-per-year low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit and a 150,000-metric-ton-per-year high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit, plus a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year butadiene unit. Major turnarounds are scheduled to take place every five years, and the next one is planned to occur in 2017.

Repsol has three ethylene crackers in Europe: one in Portugal and two in Spain. The 410,000-metric-ton-per-year cracker in Sines suffered an unplanned shutdown in December 2011, and the other two crackers operated at lower rates due to low market demand.

Repsol will continue facing hard times. The company's stakes in Repsol YPF in Argentina expropriated last month. All of the major investment projects planned for the Sines site, which included the construction of new facilities, and upgrades or capacity expansions of existing ones, were placed on hold the last year due to the generalized economic crisis and the resulting lack of investment. There are currently no plans for their reactivation.

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