Petroleum Refiners Plan Twenty Nine Cracking Unit Turnarounds for the Remainder of 2003

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Industrialinfo.com has identified twenty nine Fluid and Thermal Catalytic Cracking (FCC & TCC) unit turnarounds planned to kick-off during the remainder of 2003. These turnarounds equal 750 days of downtime. "During the first quarter of this year, we identified 34 individual FCC or TCC unit turnarounds totaling approximately 551 days of downtime compared to the first quarter of 2002 when we reported 38 turnarounds and over 805 days of down time in the same type of unit," commented Chris Paschall, Petroleum Refining Group Manager.

Based on the number of turnarounds scheduled for these units during the 2003 calendar year, the average length of a FCC or TCC unit turnaround is approximately 21 days from beginning to end. Some of the longest turnarounds planned this year will take place at refineries located in California, Louisiana, Montana, and Texas respectively. Refiners with the largest number of FCC or TCC unit turnarounds identified for 2003 so far are ConocoPhillips, BP, and Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC.

Click the image to the right to view a summary of turnarounds planned by state including total capacity per day offline and duration of the planned turnarounds.

Many refiners are spending a large portion of their capital and maintenance budgets on downstream units to comply with low sulfur fuel mandates and regulations. "Capital spending in this area of the refinery has been limited in recent years and months making maintenance of these units even more critical to ensure longer run times," added Mr. Paschall. "Although many petroleum refiners, especially in the South, have evergreen contractors located onsite to provide craftsman for these turnarounds, the demand for rental companies and quality equipment suppliers is tremendous."

As part of its Petroleum Refining Unit Tracking Database, Industrialinfo.com tracks planned and unplanned maintenance turnarounds for 719 major refinery process units including, 258 Crude Units, 137 FCC & TCC units, 60 Hydrocrackers (Distillate, Lube Oil & Residual), 84 Cokers (Delayed, Fluid & Visbreaking), 180 Reformers (Semi-Regen & Continuous).