Unplanned Shutdown Under Way at Repsol's Puertollano Refinery in Spain

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Repsol YPF SA (NYSE:REP) (Madrid, Spain) was forced to shut down the Lubricants area at the company's 166,100-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Puertollano refinery in Spain.

The shutdown is a result of low profit margins in the Refining Industry. Lubricants production has been halted since October, but no decisions have been made regarding the restarting date of the area, which will depend mainly on a recovery in refining demand. Authorities already had planned the maintenance turnaround for the Lubricants area for May 2010, which would involve the Vacuum 2 unit, Vacuum 3 unit and Hydrofinishing unit, among others. Even though expectations that the shutdown will be performed in May, it could be delayed. However, there are not yet any accurate estimations on the matter.

The 60,400-BBL/d Crude 1 Unit also has been offline since the first fortnight of August due to poor demand, and it is still unknown when the unit will be brought online.

Separately, the Puertollano refinery recently experienced a shutdown in four units in the South Conversion Area of the plant, which ended on October 10. It involved the 34,000-BBL/d Mild Hydrocracker Unit, the 661-A SRU, 661-B, and a Sour Water Unit . For more details, view October 2, 2009, article - Repsol's Puertollano Refinery Undergoing Maintenance Shutdown.

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