Thailand’s IRPC to shut Rayong hydrotreater unit for 3 months

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Thailand’s IRPC expects the fire-damaged vacuum gas oil hydrotreater (VGOHT) unit at its 215,000 bbl/day refinery in Rayong to be shut for three months, industry sources said on Wednesday.

The fire at the VGOHT unit, which started at around 18:00 Thailand time (11:00 GMT) on 9 June, was completely extinguished two hours later. No one was injured in the incident.

“The fire affected a small area of the unit and did not damage [the] surrounding refinery and petrochemical plants,” a source close to the company said.

Company sources on Tuesday said IRPC’s base oils output could be affected by the damage at the VGOHT unit, while the aromatics unit at the Rayong site is still operating following the incident.

“The cause [of the fire] has not been determined, but an initial assessment has led IRPC to believe it to be a gas leak in the unit,” the same source said.

The company could not be immediately reached for comment.

The VGOHT unit removes sulphur from heavy oils left over from petroleum distillation before sending it to the deep catalytic cracking (DCC) unit to be cracked into propylene. The DCC unit can produce 132,000 tonnes/year of propylene as well as 1.3m litres/day each of diesel and gasoline.

IRPC in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 10 June said that it has insurance coverage for property damage and business interruption for up to $1.2bn.

“We see this [incident] as a temporary hiccup; it will not affect the [company’s] UHV [upstream project for hygiene and value added products] upgrade project,” said Naphat Chantaraserekul, a Bangkok-based analyst with DBS Group Research.

The UHV project is located at the same Rayong site and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of next year.

Additional reporting by Ong Sheau Ling and Jasmine Khoo