IIR Top Refining News Today

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North America
Valero, on October 16, shut down all of the process units at its 395,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, after experiencing a loss of power from a third-party supplier. The units will be restarted in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Pemex TRI, on October 4, was forced to shut down its 315,000-BBL/d Miguel Hidalgo (Tula De Allende), Mexico, refinery, due to road closures. At this time, a timeline for the duration is undisclosed, but preliminary reports indicate the restart may occur this upcoming weekend or early next week. However, Pemex may keep the 165,000-BBL/d Combinada Primaria 2 (Crude 2) Unit offline for repair works.

International
Persian Gulf Star Oil Company (PGSOC) continues with a 24-day planned debottleneck shutdown of the 120,000-BBL/d Condensate Splitter 3, which began October 5, at its 480,000-BBL/d (actual capacity: 420,000 BBL/d) Bandar Abbas Refinery in Iran. The restart is expected October 27. During the shutdown, the unit capacity will be ramped up to 180,000 BBL/d.

Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), today, October 18, was forced to shut down the 33,000-BBL/d Atmospheric Residue Desulfurization (ARDS) Unit 1 and 33,000-BBL/d ARDS Unit 2 at its 346,000-BBL/d Mina Al Ahmadi Refinery in Kuwait, due to an explosion in the ARDS Unit 2. The damage assessment is underway, and the units are tentatively expected to be back online by October 24.

Tehran Oil Refining Company (TORC) continues with a 21-day planned maintenance shutdown of the 20,000-BBL/d Hydrocracker Unit 2, which began October 16, at its 250,000-BBL/d Tehran Refinery in Iran. The restart is expected by November 5.

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