Degasification Activities Under Way at Mothballed French Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France), is performing degasification activities at the mothballed, 141,000-barrel-per-day Flandres refinery in France after a court decision on June 30.

The Flanders refinery, also known as Dunkirk refinery, is one of the six refineries that Total operates in France. Created in 1974, the refinery produces a large range of products such as liquified petroleum gas (LPG), domestic and industrial fuels, naphtha, gas oil and lubricants.

On March 8, 2010, after a series of labor strikes that affected all of Total's refineries in France, the company officially announced that the Flandres refinery would be permanently shut down and repurposed into three new business activities: a refining operations support center, a refining training center and a logistics depot. The refinery has not operated since September 12, 2009, as a consequence of the declining refining market. Total announced that it would not restart the refinery until "market conditions become favourable."

On July 19, after almost 10 months of inactivity, degasification operations started for all 19 units of the refinery after a June 30 decision by the Douai Court of Appeals ordered the company to resume activities within two weeks or pay a daily fine of 100,000 euros ($130,800).

Although degasification activities are being performed, there are no guarantees of resuming activities yet, considering that degasification is mandatory, even when a refinery is permanently closed. If Total plans to restart the refinery, mandatory maintenance and inspection will need to be performed. In consequence, production would be possible until the fourth quarter of this year. In normal conditions, general inspection turnarounds are performed every five years. The last inspection occurred in March 2005.

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