Russia's Lukoil Stops Petrochemical Production at Burgas Refinery in Bulgaria

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Russia's largest oil company Lukoil (OTC:LUKOY) (Moscow), owner and operator of the 208,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery in Burgas, Bulgaria, decided to close the plant's petrochemical production area and polymer production units because of lack of product demand.

Since October 11, all processing units have been offline, including the 331,000-pound-per-year ethylene production unit, the ethylene glycol unit, the ethylene-oxide unit and the low-density polyethylene unit. According to sources at the refinery, the units will remain offline for the entire 2010 production period, with the exception of the polymer production area, which will resume operations in April 2010 using the FCCU feed for the production of polyethylene. Due to the unexpected shutdown at the petrochemical and polymer production site, all maintenance turnarounds scheduled for this year have yet to be confirmed.

On February 1, the petroleum refining area will undergo a 45-day planned turnaround to complete capital repairs, maintenance, cleaning and inspection of major processing units.

The Burgas refinery produces 80% of the automobile fuel consumed in Bulgaria. Products include unleaded petrol, diesel fuel and petrochemical products. In October 1999, the refinery became part of Lukoil Corporation, when the Russian company acquired 58% of the petroleum refinery stock. In 2005, Lukoil increased its ownership up to 93.13% through the purchase of additional stock.

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