Saudi refineries to shut down in Feb/March

24 January 2007 14:40  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Refining operations in Saudi Arabia are set to be interrupted during February and March by scheduled shutdowns at facilities in Riyadh and Jubail, an industry source said on Wednesday.

 

Saudi Aramco is scheduled to shut down units at the 120,000 barrel/day (bbl/day) Riyadh refinery from 1-15 February.

 

Units scheduled for maintenance at that time are said to include a 34,000 bbl/day hydrocracker and a 36,000 bbl/day catalytic reforming unit.

 

It is unclear whether the refinery’s sole 120,000 bbl/day crude distillation unit or its 53,000 bbl/day vacuum distillation unit will shut down.

 

In March, the Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (SASREF) is scheduled to shut down unspecified crude and distillate processing units at its 360,000 bbl/day Jubail refinery on the Arabian Gulf coast.

 

The shutdown is scheduled to run from 3-26 March, the source said.

 

In February, Saudi Aramco's 400,000 bbl/day Rabigh refinery on the Red Sea coast will undergo one week of maintenance, but this work is not expected to result in the shutdown of the refinery.

 

Saudi Aramco will also shut down the southern section of its 550,000 bbl/day Ras Tanura refinery this year.

 

However, plans to shut down the refinery were said to have been pushed back into the second half of 2007.

By: James Dennis
+65 6780 4359

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