Petroecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery Delays Overhaul Because of Equipment Delivery Delay

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The maintenance turnaround that had been scheduled to take place at Petroecuador's 110,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Esmeraldas refinery next November has been postponed due to a delay in the delivery of equipment necessary to carry out the shutdown. The overhaul is now scheduled to take place in May 2009. The delivery of the new uninterruptible-power-supply backup equipment has been delayed and is now expected to arrive in January 2009. Petroecuador is also awaiting the delivery of the Vacuum 2 tower back filling, which has already been approved by the Ecuadorian government. These take about 22 weeks to manufacture.

During the maintenance overhaul, which will last 12 mechanical days, modifications will be performed on the electric system. New uninterruptible-power-supply backup equipment will be installed. The piping of the CH-1 furnace of the 55,000-BBL/d Crude 1 unit will be changed, which could cause the unit to be kept offline longer than 12 days, since this type of work may take longer. Maintenance work will be performed in the heat exchanger and the air compressor, shared by the Crude 1 and Crude 2 units. For more details, view related August 15, 2008, news article - Petroecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery to Begin Maintenance Overhaul and Modernization Project in November 2008.

Chiyoda Corporation (TYO:6366) (Yokohama, Japan), which participated in the construction of the Esmeraldas Refinery, has signed an agreement with Petroecuador for the maintenance overhaul, revamp and modernization. For more details, view related August 14, 2008, news article - Ecuador's Esmeraldas Refinery Fully Operational, Prepares for Overhaul in 4Q08.

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