IIR Top Refining News Today: June 22nd 2020

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North America
ExxonMobil on June 11 restarted the 90,000-BBL/d FCCU 2 (Fuels West) unit at reduced rates at its 557,000-BBL/d Baytown, Texas, refinery, after it was shut down on March 29. The facility remains at reduced rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Phillips 66 on June 16 restarted the 150,000-BBL/d FCCU, after it was shut on June 15 due to mechanical issues, at its 230,000-BBL/d Bayway Refinery in Linden, New Jersey.

Pemex TRI has postponed the 30-day planned turnaround of the 4,000-BBL/d Alkylation, 95,000-BBL/d Crude Primaria 3 (AS), 40,000-BBL/d Vacuum RP2 and associated units at its 243,000-BBL/d Salamanca, Mexico, refinery. The turnaround, which was previously set to begin by mid-June, has been tentatively delayed until August because of limitations on selecting contractors due to COVID-19. The refinery is processing at 45-50% of total capacity due to inventory controls related to company finances and COVID-19.

International
PDVSA on June 19 restarted the 85,000-BBL/d Crude 1 unit at its 625,000-BBL/d Amuay Refinery in Venezuela, after it was forced to shut down in early June due to pump issues. The 120,000-BBL/d Crude 4 is in the process of coming offline for heat exchanger repairs and will come back online in 15 days. Meanwhile, mechanical work is still ongoing on the 120,000-BBL/d Crude 2 unit, which will be back online by early July. Planned repairs on the offline 80,000-BBL/d FCCU, which were accelerated due to COVID-19, will be completed in three weeks and the unit will come online by mid-July. A restart date for the 180,000-BBL/d Crude 5, which continues offline due to COVID-19 and export restrictions, remains unknown at this time.

KirishiNefteOrgSyntez has rescheduled planned maintenance on the 56,000-BBL/d ABT-2 (Crude 1) and 33,600-BBL/d ABT-2 (Vacuum 1) units at its 420,000-BBL/d Kirishi Refinery in Russia. The 36-day maintenance was expected to kick off in early September, but has been rescheduled for the end of June. Similarly, maintenance on the 31,300-BBL/d Hydrotreater L-24/6 was scheduled to kick off in October, but has also been rescheduled for the end of June. Meanwhile, the 40,000-BBL/d Hydrotreater L-24-10/2000 was shut down for unplanned repairs in mid-May, but is expected to be restarted at the end of June.

Petrobras was forced to shut down the 141,500-BBL/d Crude U-1210, on June 15, after a fire broke out on the unit at its 242,000-BBL/d Reduc Refinery in Brazil. The unit remains offline, and an investigation to determine damages and a restart date is being performed. The refinery was processing at 75% capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the company's market strategy. It is now processing at 50% capacity due to the crude unit's unplanned shutdown.

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