Overhaul at Martinique's Antilles Refinery Set for First Quarter of 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The 15,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Antilles refinery, in the Fort-de-France region in Martinique, is scheduled to perform a maintenance overhaul in the first quarter of 2012. The plant is owned by La Société Anonime de la Raffinerie des Antilles (SARA) (Martinique).

The turnaround, which will entail mainly maintenance and inspection, is scheduled to take place during the first quarter of 2012, and will involve the whole production area of the refinery with its eight units: a crude Distillation Unit, a Reformer, two Hydrotreaters, two Flares, one Sulfur Recovery Unit and a Wastewater Treatment unit. Units are expected to be offline for a non-production period of 45 days.

Under normal conditions, overhauls are performed every five years. The last major shutdown took place on January 1, 2007, and units were kept offline until February 8, 2007. On April 14, 2008, the 2,900-BBL/d Reformer was shut down for catalyst changeout and was kept offline until May 26, 2008.

The refinery processes incoming feed from Venezuela and northern Europe, and produces a wide range of products such as gas oil, napththa, kerosene, and light and heavy fuels, which are distributed mainly in the region.

Created in 1971, the refinery was conceived as an important source of energetic products to ensure the energetic independence of the French Antilles and Guyanas. Since its beginning, the refinery has been operated by SARA, owned 50% by Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France), 14.5% by ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas), 11.5% by Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) and 24% by Rubis SCA (EPA:RUI) (Paris, France), whose participation in SARA starts at the end of 2005 after the purchase of Royal Dutch Shell plc's (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) distribution networks in Antilles and Guyanas.

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