Repsol Suspends Refining Operations in Spain's Bilbao Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Weak fuel demand has made Repsol YPF SA (NYSE:REP) (Madrid, Spain) shut down Plant 2 of the 240,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Bilbao Refinery in Spain. The plant is operated by Petronor, a subsidiary of Repsol.

In response to the declining refining markets, the company decided to suspend all operations at the Alta 2 Area and Baja 2 Area, both of which are sub-areas in Plant 2 of the refinery. The shutdown process started September 14, and authorities from the refinery have said that the units will be kept offline until market conditions become favourable. The 100,000-BBL/d Crude 2 Unit will be halted until further instructions from the company, while the 140,000-BBL/d Crude 1 Unit will remain online. Other units will also be shut down, including the 14,000-BBL/d Platformer 2, the Naphtha Desulfurization Unit and the Amine (S-2) Unit.

The refinery contains three main areas: Plant 1, subdivided into the Alta 1, Alta 3, and Baja 1 Area; and Plant 2, subdivided into Alta 2 and Baja 2, and the Conversion Plant. The Conversion Plant had a maintenance turnaround initially planned for the last quarter of 2009, which has now been rescheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

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