Industrial Info's Weekly Global Refining Impact Report

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info's weekly Global Refining Report gives you the latest inside intelligence on outages, derates, shutdowns, closures, delays and more. Tomorrow's news today...

Market Commentary:
Weathering storms. Seems to be the very prevalent theme of this year. From the U.S. drone strike in January beginning a conflagration in the Middle East that still simmers today, through the obviously still unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, to the unrest - protests and riots - happening throughout the world. And now we find ourselves in tropical storm season, with storms such as Cristobal impacting the U.S. Gulf Coast and Nisarga striking western India. These will have their impact on energy infrastructure.

However, at least for now, we likely will be weathering until August another potential supply storm as OPEC+ meets to discuss further extending cuts, even though there is dissension in the ranks, especially from Iraq and others who are not wholly compliant to these cuts.


Also, Saudi Arabia and Russia do not wish to provide an opportunity for U.S. shale to begin growing anew. The U.S. shale storm of supply these past few years is what the initial price war was all about; but with WTI near $40 and Brent more than $40, prices are encouraging some operators to consider bringing rigs back into the plays--though not yet, as Baker Hughes reported that the oil and gas rig count in the U.S. fell by 17 last week, bringing the total number of active oil rigs to 206.

Therefore, within this Global Refining Report, IIR hopes to shed some light on what is transpiring from a refinery operations perspective as the Global Refining Index (working with ADUs) illustrates what is happening to crude operationally available capacity and how refineries are de-rating and operating overall in these times. The global refinery maps depict the impact of COVID-19 as well as the non-COVID-19 outages. Also, you will find both a Capacity Offline table to quickly display weekly what the available operating capacity by region is and Area Charts, which visualize COVID-19-caused and non-COVID-19 capacity offline in Asia, Europe and North America.

Petroleum Refining Highlights
June 4, 2020 BP Products is experiencing some minor mechanical issues on its 65,000-barrel--per-day (BBL/d) FCCU 600 at its 490,000-BBL/d Whiting, Indiana, refinery. The FCCU remains online despite the issues, with expectations to resolve the issue over the next 24 to 48 hours. Additionally, the refinery continues to operate at an approximate 15% reduction due to COVID-19 and currently anticipates resuming normal operations at the end of June.

June 5, 2020 IIR has learned that Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica continues processing at lower rates at its 35,009-BBL/d Kingston, Jamaica, refinery but has increased rates 10% from May. The whole refinery is processing at 70% of normal capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Separately, the 21-day planned plant-wide turnaround remains set to begin by June 15. IIR continues to monitor the situation and will issue an update when more information becomes available.

June 4, 2020 IIR has confirmed that Trafigura Pte Ltd continues to process at lower rates at its 31,500-BBL/d Bahia Blanca, Argentina, refinery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The site is running at 90% capacity, and Trafigura will be evaluating product demand in order to adjust operations accordingly. IIR continues to monitor and will issue an update when more information is available.

June 5, 2020 Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) restarted the 84,000-BBL/d RFCC 2 at its 540,000-BBL/d Mailiao, Taiwan, refinery on May 20. Total crude throughput, including two RFCCs (168,000 BBL/d combined capacity), two ARDS units (160,000-BBL/d combined capacity) and associated units is currently around 80% until June 30. The company is closely monitoring the current market situation and is now keeping its options open to increase runs by July 1.

May 29, 2020 Tunisian Refining Industries Company (STIR) has extended the unplanned shutdown of its 35,000-BBL/d Bizerte refinery in Tunisia. The refinery was forced to shut down on April 15 due to low demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The refinery expects to resume normal operations tentatively by June 8 (previously reported May 30). Major units include the lone crude distillation unit and 8,000-BBL/d reformer, although the reformer has been shut down since March 21 due to a fire in a compressor during the restart process in the last maintenance shutdown.

Map of Global Refineries Impacted by COVID-19/non-COVID -- Ongoing Offline Events

Global Refining Index
Industrial Info's Global Refining Index (GRI) illustrates how much refinery capacity is offline versus normal operating capacity, showing with an operating percent at a world region - market region level how healthy refineries are. (See graphic below).


Refining Available Capacity
Global Regional Available Operational Capacity. COVID-19 Impact & non-COVID-related Outages



Map of Global Refineries impacted by COVID-19/non-COVID - Future(Delayed) Offline Events

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.