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Refinery news roundup: Refinery runs in Europe affected by strikes

Some turnarounds are still continuing in Northwest Europe — including at Fawley and Mongstad — and in the Mediterranean, although most scheduled works have been drawing to a close.

While the strike at France’s Feyzin finished and the refinery restarted in early December, French labor unions called on employees in all sectors to take part in industrial action against the government’s pension reforms. The strike which started December 5 has been extended, with product deliveries blocked at a number of refineries and the plants subsequently reducing throughput.

Unions could extend the strike action next week and fully shut down installations at some refineries, with a decision on whether to do so expected Thursday, the CGT union said. French oil industry group UFIP said that all refineries are operating, although oil terminals at some sites, including Gonfreville, Grandpuits, Donges and La Mede, are blockaded. However, supply from ExxonMobil and Petroineos’ refineries has not been affected, UFIP said. But according to the CGT union, employees at Total’s Grandpuits, Gonfreville and Donges refineries and its La Mede biofuels plant, as well as Petroineos’ Lavera refinery, have extended the strike with no product deliveries and reduced runs. Total’s Feyzin refinery, which was shut due to a strike in October and November, continues to operate normally and deliver products, as does ExxonMobil’s Gravenchon refinery, sources said. Staff at ExxonMobil’s Fos refinery have been joining the strike on and off, with deliveries partly affected.

Separately, a strike at BP Rotterdam has been averted so far after BP said that it has made a “new final offer”

following the restart of negotiations with trade unions representing workers at its Rotterdam refinery in the Netherlands. “The trade unions will again discuss this with their members,” the company said. BP offered to restart talks after union members unanimously rejected the company’s previous final offer for a collective labor agreement.

Staff at the refinery said last week they were gearing up for potential industrial action after they rejected the company’s offer on the collective labor agreement, and gave the company a deadline until December 11. However the ultimatum has been suspended after the company offered to resume talks, BP said.

NEW AND REVISED ENTRIES
–Shell has taken offline a unit at its Pernis refinery in the Netherlands following a spill of crude oil on December 8. According to traders, a CDU had been shut down, but it was now in the process of restart.

–Spain’s Petronor halted the turbo expander at Bilbao associated with its fluid catalytic cracker for maintenance work for a few days in early December. The FCC underwent scheduled maintenance that concluded at the end of last month. The company restarted the H4 hydrogen unit at the refinery December 2, which was halted November 22 for maintenance.

–The topping 3 unit at Italy’s Milazzo refinery is operational after undergoing maintenance works, while the FCC unit which was undergoing similar upgrades is still offline, a source close to the refinery told S&P Global Platts. The original restart of both plants had been scheduled for November 20. The upgrade works on both plants in the Sicilian refinery began in October.

–Germany’s Lingen is restarting plants since December 12 which could result in increased flaring in the next few days, it said in a statement. The refinery carried out works from October 21, BP previously said, without giving details on what units will be affected.

–Germany’s Lingen is restarting plants since December 12 which could result in increased flaring in the next few days, it said in a statement. The refinery carried out works from October 21, BP previously said, without giving details on what units will be affected.

–Eni’s Sannazzaro de Burgondi refinery will likely restart its Eni slurry technology (EST) unit in February, a source close to the refinery told S&P Global Platts. Repair works on two EST plant units that were damaged by the fire have been ongoing since the fire in 2016. New technology is also being added to the plant during the repair work. Maintenance on the S7 gasification unit at the plant which suffered an explosion in September is ongoing, the source said.

EXISTING ENTRIES
–Gunvor has halted CDU1 at its Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam refinery for economic reasons and also to prepare for an upcoming turnaround in March 2020. The shutdown of the unit will not affect other units at the plant. The refinery has a 38,000 b/d and 50,000 b/d CDU units. The company said that following the turnaround “we will be building on synergies between our Rotterdam and Antwerp refineries to produce LSVGO.”

–Planned partial maintenance at UK’s 270,000 b/d Fawley refinery is still ongoing. It shut down some of its units and associated operations for planned maintenance that started September 24.

–Repsol’s refinery at Puertollano has started planned maintenance in late November, which is due to conclude in December, next month, a company spokesman said. Repsol said it would invest Eur20 million in the halt. The maintenance and upgrade work will last one-and-a-half months, the company said, affecting several units.

–Tupras said that two of its refineries are planning works in the fourth quarter — Izmir at a crude distillation unit, hydrocracker and vacuum unit, set to last 2-3 weeks, and Izmit at a CDU and vacuum units for 7-8 weeks and at an FCC for 5-6 weeks. The company said in an investor presentation that it plans revamp of a crude unit and FCC modernization as part of its ongoing projects, without specifying further details.

–Lukoil’s ISAB refinery in Sicily is currently carrying out preparatory works at its Southern plant ahead of a planned turnaround expected to start towards the end of the year. The works will last between six and seven weeks.

–Maintenance works at the FCC unit at Norway’s Mongstad refinery is still ongoing, the company said. Planned maintenance at the plant has been ongoing since September.

–Italy’s Sarroch announced it would run minor maintenance on its on its North Plants and its RT2 unit, as well as its Vacuum V1 and VisBreaking VSB plant, in the fourth quarter, according to information provided in a statement.

–The Canary Islands’ only refinery Tenerife will be permanently closed in the long term. There has been no production since 2014 at the site. Cepsa will install some logistics and storage facilities at the site, amid a wider regeneration project.

–Galp CEO Carlos Gomes da Silva has said a shutdown may be necessary at the Porto, Matosinhos, plant at end 2019 or early 2020 for less than three weeks for the atmospheric distillation unit, where it needs to install heat exchanges.

FUTURE
NEW AND RECVISED ENTRIES
–Repsol’s refinery at Puertollano in central Spain will carry out an upgrade of its olefins unit as part of a planned maintenance of the cracker and chemical derivative plants at the end of 2020.

EXISTING ENTRIES
–Repsol’s Coruna announced a halt between January and the end of March which will include the finalization of three CO2 emission reduction projects at the Fluid Catalytic Cracker among other work. The work will mean halting six of the refinery’s conversion units, it said.

–Italy’s Sarroch refinery will carry out large-scale maintenance works on its plant on the Italian island of Sardinia in the first and second quarter of 2020, CEO Dario Scaffardi said. Next year “will be year in which…we plan to complete our six-year maintenance cycle of core conversion units,” Scaffardi said.

–Finland’s Neste will carry out a major turnaround in Porvoo in Q2 2020. The works are set to last approximately 11 weeks.

–Total will invest Eur150 million at its Leuna refinery in Germany. The investment into an upgrade project aims to reduce the production of heavy products and increase the production of methanol, which is an important feedstock for the chemical industry. This will deepen the integration of the refinery and the petrochemical operations. Work will continue until 2021, with the major part done in the 2020 major shutdown of the refinery.

–The next major turnaround at Preem’s Gothenburg refinery in Sweden will be in 2021.

–Sarpom’s refinery in Trecate, Italy, is scheduled to undergo a large-scale, two-month general maintenance cycle in 2020 — of the type carried out at the plant every 3-4 years — a source close to the refinery said.

–Rompetrol’s Petromidia refinery will have its next general maintenance in 2020.

–The next major maintenance at the Netherlands’ Zeeland will be in 2020. The refinery started work in June 2018 on an expansion of the hydrocracker, by working to add the third reactor. The reactor will be connected to the existing installation in 2020.

–Romania’s Petrobrazi will undergo its next big turnaround in 2022.

UPGRADES
NEW AND REVISED ENTRIES
–MOL said its Croatian affiliate INA has made a final investment decision to carry out a residue upgrade project at the Rijeka refinery. The project includes building the delayed coker, the renovation of existing refinery units, and the construction of a new port for the closed storage of petroleum coke. The project will be completed by 2023. INA will also go ahead with the conversion of the Sisak refinery into a bitumen production site and logistics hub, in line with a March 2019 decision. The facility may also produce lubricants and bio-fuel components too, subject to further investment decisions, MOL said.

EXISTING ENTRIES
–Gunvor is studying the potential installation of an HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) at the Rotterdam refinery.

–Repsol’s Coruna will shut the calcination unit at the start of 2020 due to technological obsolescence. During the course of 2020, a new distillation unit will be installed to produce polymer grade propylene. The unit should come online by the end of 2020.

–PKN has approved a Zloty 1 billion ($254.8 million) project to build a visbreaking unit at Plock. The company said the visbreaker will allow the refinery to reduce fuel oil output and increase its production of distillates. It has previously said it aims to complete the new visbreaker unit by the end of 2020.

–Bosnia’s Brod refinery will start production from the middle of 2020 by which time its reconstruction will be completed. The refinery is currently being reconstructed. A pipeline, currently being built to supply it with natural gas to fuel its internal processes, is expected to be ready from Q3 2020. The refinery suspended its operations in 2019 for an upgrade and to prepare for the use of natural gas. The gas will replace fuel oil as a power source for the refinery processes.

–Varo Energy’s Cressier refinery in Switzerland is currently installing a new column at the crude distillation unit which will allow it to reduce CO2 emissions but also to expand the scope of its light products yield. The column will start operations in the second quarter of 2020.

–Poland’s Grupa Lotos said its EFRA modernization program was almost complete, with all units now commissioned apart from the delayed coking unit (DCU), which is undergoing testing. In September, the company introduced feedstock into the DCU and the unit was put into operation. The key elements of the EFRA project are the coking complex, comprising the DCU, coker naphtha hydrotreating unit, and coke storage and logistics facility. Other new units are the hydrogen generation unit, hydrowax vacuum distillation unit, and the oxygen generation unit.

–Total will invest Eur150 million at its Leuna refinery in Germany. The investment into an upgrade project aims to reduce the production of heavy products and increase the production of methanol, which is an important feedstock for the chemical industry. This will deepen the integration of the refinery and the petrochemical operations and increase the competitiveness of the plant. Work will continue until 2021, with the major part done in the 2020 major shutdown of the refinery.

–Upgrade work to increase San Roque’s refining margin, and construct a new hydrocracker, has been halted by local government, Cepsa said. The San Roque Council ordered earthworks at the site to be halted, affecting Cepsa’s work on its “Bottom of the Barrel” project. The company plans to construct a hydrocracker at the site. The upgrades are targeted for completion by 2022. Separately, Cepsa will revamp Isomax, fluid catalytic cracker, alkylation units at San Roque and will construct a methylene unit (Sorbex II).

–Germany’s Schwedt is in the process of upgrading its aromatics complex. A second column has been delivered for the project which is planned to be carried out in the spring of 2020.

–Construction of the delayed coker at the Pancevo refinery will be completed in 2019. The launch of the complex, which would increase the depth of processing above 99% and increase gasoline and diesel output, will help the refinery halt fuel oil output and hence help the country limit the use of HSFO especially in view of the IMO 2020 sulfur cap on marine fuel. The refinery will also produce coke for use in the metallurgy and construction industry.

Currently Serbia imports coke but the Pancevo refinery output will cover domestic demand and also allow for some exports.

–Repsol said that at the Cartagena refinery it will invest Eur300 million over the next four years on increasing the capacity of the lubricants unit and increasing production of second generation biofuels. The first phase, the lubricants, is scheduled to start in 2019 at the Ilboc plant alongside Korean partner SKSol. The biofuels upgrade would take place at the nearby Escombreras facility, and will result in production of 250,000 mt/year of second-gen biofuel from around 2022.

–Greece’s Motor Oil Hellas has approved an investment project for the construction of a new naphtha treatment complex at its Corinth refinery, it said in its 2019 H1 report. The new complex, which will contribute to increased production of gasoline, kerosene and hydrogen, is scheduled for completion in 2021.

–Swedish refiner Preem is “evaluating a potential investment in a residue hydrocracking plant” at the Lysekil refinery, it said. The investment would be aimed to “upgrade as much heavy oil as possible into sulfur-free gasoline and diesel fuels to help meet rising demand after IMO 2020,” a spokesman said.

–The Netherlands’ Zeeland refinery has had the third reactor for the hydrocracker’s expansion delivered. The refinery started work in June 2018 on an expansion of the hydrocracker, by working to add the third reactor. The reactor will be connected to the existing installation in 2020.

–Germany’s Rhineland has started the construction of a new hydrogen production plant, using electrolysis, at its Wesseling site. The Eur16 million investment project, due for completion in 2020, will generate hydrogen from electricity rather than natural gas, and thus also contribute to reduced CO2 emissions. It will produce up to 1,300 mt/year hydrogen when operating at peak rates. The 327,000 b/d refinery consists of the Wesseling (south) and Godorf (north) sites. Separately, the refinery has received permission to start construction of a new power plant at Godorf.

The new plant is scheduled to go onstream in 2021. As part of the modernization, Shell is converting the power plant from oil to gas.

–ExxonMobil said it has “made a final investment decision to expand” the Fawley refinery in the UK to increase production of ULSD by 45%, or 38,000 b/d. The more than $1 billion investment includes a hydrotreater to remove sulfur from diesel, supported by a hydrogen plant. The construction, subject to a local planning approval, was set to begin in late 2019 with start-up expected in 2021.

–McDermott International has been awarded a contract for engineering, procurement and construction management services for the upgrade of the hydrocracker at Czech Litvinov refinery. The completion is expected for Q2 2020.

–Russian Lukoil plans to invest in its ISAB refinery in southern Italy and has also dropped plans announced in 2017 to sell the plant having not received suitable offers. Lukoil will invest $60 million in upgrades, including two hydrodesulfurization units.

–Cepsa said it will carry out upgrades to its aromax and hydrocracker units at Huelva in 2019. It is also carrying out an aromatics optimization project at the refinery.

–Total is considering building intermediate feedstock desulfurization units and a hydrogen unit at France’s Donges, but the investment depends on rerouting a railroad track that currently crosses the refinery.

–Israel’s Haifa District Court has rejected an appeal by Haifa municipality along with six other neighboring communities and environmental groups against the proposed expansion of the Bazan refinery.

–Total’s Feyzin is considering mothballing a visbreaker unit around 2021 as demand for heavy fuel is gradually declining and the unit currently works on average no more than three days a month. As a result of the mothballing seven people would lose their jobs, but would be offered other jobs within the organization, the company said.

LAUNCHES
NEW AND REVISED ENTRIES
–Estonia plans building an oil refinery which will process shale oil, according to local media reports citing the finance minister Martin Helme. During Question Time in the parliament he said that construction of the refinery would start in 2021 with the plant expected to be operational by 2022 or 2023. The refinery will be operated by state owned energy group Eesti Energia, but “other market participants would take part with their capital,” the minister was quoted as saying.

EXISTING ENTRIES
–Turkey’s Ersan Petrol plans to start construction of its 1.4 million mt/year Nazli refinery at Kahramanmaras in southeast Turkey in mid-2020, with the plant expected to begin operations in less than four years, company owner Ecvet Sayer said.

–Dutch Hes International (former Hestya Energy) aims to start operations at a unit of the closed Wilhelmshaven refinery in Germany “later this year”, it said in early January. The Netherlands-based company had previously said it would operate the unit, which it declined to name, under a tolling agreement. According to traders, it is the VDU that is likely to be restarted in 2019 and used for producing low sulfur fuel oil ahead of the 2020 IMO requirement for low sulfur bunker fuel.

–Azerbaijani state oil company Socar is considering the development of a second refinery in Turkey, in addition to its existing 214,000 b/d Star refinery at Aliaga on Turkey’s central Aegean coast.
Source: Platts

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