Petro Rabigh Restarts Refinery After Two-Month Planned Maintenance Shutdown

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (SAU:2380) (Petro Rabigh) (Rabigh, Saudi Arabia) has completed its periodic maintenance program at its 400,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery and petrochemical complex in the coastal town of Rabigh, which is in the Makkah province of Saudi Arabia. The 60-day maintenance turnaround started on April 21, 2011, with all the units in the complex undergoing maintenance.

The major units in the refinery are:

• 400,000-BBL/d Crude Unit
• 92,000-BBL/d High Olefin Fluid Catalytic Cracker (HOFCC)
• 120,000-BBL/d Vacuum Gas Oil Hydrotreater (VGO HT)
• 47,000-BBL/d Diesel Hydrodesulphurization Unit (DHDS)

This was the first major shutdown after the startup of the new refinery units in 2009. The maintenance of the utilities section was completed by May 31 and the Crude Unit by June 7. Other major units also started by the end of June. The 92,000-BBL/d HOFCC, which was scheduled to start by mid-July, was postponed due to additional maintenance work on the main fractionators. The HOFCC unit started on July 31, with which all production units were back in operation.

The refiner expects to reach its full operational capacity by August 15, 2011.

The Rabigh Refinery was commissioned in 1989, with an initial capacity of 325,000 BBL/d. A debottlenecking exercise was performed in 1998, which resulted in an increase in crude processing capacity to 400,000 BBL/d, making the refinery the largest single-train crude distillation unit in the world. In 2005, a joint venture Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) was formed between Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) and Sumitomo Chemical Limited (TYO:4005) (Tokyo, Japan) to construct and operate the integrated refinery and petrochemical complex. In January 2008, the company held its initial public offering, with both Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited having a 37.5% share and the public holding 25%.

View Plant Profile - 1037756
View Turnaround Alert - 151041 151028 151036 151042 151024 151032 151029 151033 151027 151048 151021 151047 151022 151049 151023 151026 151031 151034 151035 151030 151025 151046

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR'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.