Redirected from Shutdowns
Shutdowns, Turnarounds, and Outages (STO) are commonly used terms, often interchangeably, to describe a planned or unplanned period of time in which a plant/facility, unit, or piece of equipment is out of service. In many process industries (e.g., refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, power generation, etc.), equipment operates 24/7, making it difficult to perform necessary inspection and maintenance work without taking said equipment offline. For this reason, facilities routinely schedule turnarounds, where a section of an industrial plant or the entire facility is shut down to perform major maintenance, overhaul, and/or repair operations, as well as to inspect, test, and replace process materials and equipment. These planned events also provide owner/operators with the opportunity to perform debottlenecking, process upgrades, and capital project improvements while the unit or facility is offline. The primary purpose of turnarounds is to conduct the activities necessary to keep the plant running safely, reliably, and as efficiently as possible.
Sometimes equipment goes offline unexpectedly or operators are forced to shut down equipment or an entire facility due to unforeseen events like power outages, fires, mechanical failures, weather events, or losses of primary containment (LOPC). These unplanned shutdowns or outages may or may not require immediate action, depending on the circumstances.
The cost of a shutdown, turnaround, or outage can be substantial, so owner/operators strive to optimize planning and work whenever possible. Far in advance of a turnaround, operators begin planning schedules and coordinating resources to ensure that personnel, budgets, equipment, and access points are available to accomplish the turnaround objectives safely and efficiently. The better prepared owner/operators are for STOs, the greater their ability to minimize facility downtime.
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In this article, we’ll discuss the current challenges with turnaround planning and how data-driven modeling can help optimize scope, duration, and intervals.
Utilizing a risk assessment methodology to determine the amount of detail in our QA/QC plans, as well as who needs to be involved, may help us improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency of our QA/QC work process.
With all the variables in play during a turnaround event, it is rare for all expectations to succeed together, during the same event. It is important to have a process in place, plan each step, and utilize certified inspection personnel.
COVID-19 has forced organizations to adapt. The old way of doing business, at least for some, is gone and will not return. In these challenging times, innovation is key. But is implementing a new innovation today any different than twelve months ago?
Inspectioneering and Pinnacle co-hosted their 6th bi-annual Meeting of the Minds roundtable discussion earlier this year. This meeting’s focus was on how Covid-19 and the decline in oil prices have affected MI programs across the industry.
Traditional inspection methods used to detect internal corrosion and corrosion under insulation (CUI) in piping and pipeline assets can be time-consuming and costly. With ART, you’ll discover CUI detection best practices that can help save you up...
COVID-19 is disrupting all industries including asset management. Here are 6 recommendations to help you align your asset management according to new requirements and turn the challenges into opportunities.
Decision trees can be used to help with decisions related to nearly any closed loop mechanical integrity or inspection workflow process. This article focuses on how decision trees can be applied to heat exchanger tubular inspection.
When paired with the right software, the RBWS process can lead to significant reductions in turnaround work scopes. However, some software tools have distinct advantages over others.
This article helps shine light on some common industry problems that can occur by having inferior UT procedures and practices, while providing several lessons learned through a case study that resulted in nearly $1 million in turnaround repairs.
Developing a comprehensive turnaround (TA) work scope for process equipment is a critical step for achieving a facility's business goals. Risk Based Work Selection is a proven process for prioritizing and optimizing planned work for an impending TA.
Secure your NDT data with our DIMATE PACS solution, which we can install on-premises or run as a cloud service for you. If you would like to reliably store and retrieve your inspection data, contact us at buddy@dimate.de!
Risk Based Work Selection (RBWS) is an industry best practice used to help refiners better-manage the safety and reliability of operations for a facility. When properly conducted, RBWS can help refiners optimize major turnaround projects.
Major maintenance events require proper planning, scheduling, and execution to achieve a successful outcome. An outage assessment process can deliver an effort that is safe, on budget, on schedule, and ensures long term plant equipment reliability.
Creating a proper work scope and developing and executing an effective work plan are essential for a successful turnaround. However, behind the scenes exists the glue that pulls the entire effort together: logistics.
An effective outage requires an efficient work effort, driven by a detailed work scope. Of all the different roles and efforts involved in these major events, Inspection plays a significant role in ensuring an outage’s success.
The most valuable unit of measure within a turnaround is not money, but time. Successful turnaround planners are now integrating the Detailed Inspection Planner (DIP) within their teams to increase the accuracy of planning and reduce the time...
Lessen downtime by enhancing your plant infrastructure, ensuring mechanical integrity, and extending equipment lifespan. Contact us for on-demand engineering expertise in assessment, problem-solving, specialized testing, and preventative solutions.
This article demonstrates how the use of APM software can help prevent unplanned downtime by quickly identifying potential hidden failures.
As RBI continues to proliferate across industry, there are still those that are reluctant to transition from a time-based to risk-based inspection approach - especially in the upstream oil & gas business. These 4 benefits might help to lessen the...
Teams planning and executing turnarounds are obliged to not only stay within budget, but to reduce or eliminate the need to spend the contingency allowance. This article introduces a risk-based approach to help avoid squandering finances.
Fired heaters are among the most critical equipment in refineries and chemical plants. This article provides an overview of what a fired heater tube mechanical integrity program should include.
Detailed operations planning and scheduling is an essential, yet often marginalized, element of an effective turnaround. To increase the likelihood of executing successful turnarounds, facilities should create and update sound operational shutdown...
Learn how you can safeguard integrity, reliability, instrumentation safety, and more.
3 common repair scenarios include routine maintenance, scope repairs, and major discoveries. An inspector’s ability to properly manage each situation can mean the difference between mechanical integrity success and failure.
Turnarounds operate at a different pace than routine work. Most plant-based inspection departments have historically struggled with Turnaround document control, such as integrating contractor reports into their routine data management system. Our...
You probably already know that inspection apps for tablets and smart phones exist, and have notions of how these technologies can improve efficiencies in the field and beyond.
In the previous articles, we have put all the Pre-Turnaround and actual Turnaround activities in place to get the job safely done. Now we need to find the API Inspectors and have them approved by the client as quickly as possible. I have indicated...
A unit turnaround (TAR) provides opportunities for plants to execute capital and maintenance projects, or to make tie-ins during an outage window. This downtime is costly - not just in terms of lost production while the unit is down, but in...
FER's extensive TA experience, combined with our custom software (RAMI Scope) that tracks all aspects of TA activities, we have the ability to keep your turnaround flowing flawlessly with the methodology to maximize your value of premium time.
There is a lot of great technology currently available to us in the private sector, such as personal cell phones and telecommunication devices, including television, automobile features, e-mail, text messaging, data sharing,...
One of the major challenges inspectors and plant operators face after each turnaround is to ensure that all repair and scope work is and was completed in accordance with the client’s requirements. Sometimes that verification will be to ensure work...
The introduction of PAUT is a challenging effort initially, but can have a very positive impact on your first TAR and become a routine inspection for future TARs. When fully implemented, radiation safety boundaries can be reduced significantly or...
Now that the stage has been set (via parts 1 and 2 of this series), let’s see what we can do to improve the efficiencies and effectiveness of the work execution processes through situation awareness. Who knows? Maybe even cut a few days off the...
This blog post is the second in a series about situation awareness (SA). The first part of this series introduced SA (defined as the gathering and utilization of data in real time and using it to improve work processes) and introduced an example of...
Introducing the IGS Tube Tech rover system, the next generation in autonomous cleaning technology, capable of removing more than 90% of fouling and restoring your fired heater convection sections to their original design thermal efficiency.
In this issue of Inspectioneering Journal, I detail a roadmap for inspection activities during turnaround executions. This roadmap includes the critical elements of turnaround inspections, the keys to optimizing inspection activities, and the...
Periodically, oil refinery and petrochemical plant operating companies conduct complex turnarounds for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, scheduled maintenance, facility upgrades, and code compliance. In this series of articles...
Leak related problems in bolted assemblies are an ongoing issue for virtually all facilities in the chemical, petrochemical, and refining industries. From leak detection to leak prevention, operators need knowledgeable and experienced technicians to...
Steam reformers are critical assets to many refining and chemical manufacturing plants and facilities, and it is well known that the reformer is one of the most challenging assets to maintain and operate. Common problems in reformer operations...
Since its inception, one of the core businesses of the MS&R (maintenance, safety and reliability) Team for Kuwait Oil Company's NK (North Kuwait) Facilities has included carrying out Preventive Maintenance (PM) activities as directed by the...
In the first article entitled How to Put It All Together - Guide to Organizing a Successful PEI Program in the current series of articles that I am writing, I provided an overview of the necessary Management Systems (MS) for a successful program to...
We have discussed most of the pre-turnaround planning details. We are ready for the next step. The cost for the Turnaround is normally the most important item right behind SAFETY. In many cases the salary, per diem and travel costs have been part of...
If you enter a petrochemical facility to work everyday, you realize the security issues. It is very important to have this issue resolved before the inspectors begin to arrive. The first morning of the Turnaround there are usually several thousand...
We all agree that safety is the most important item on any Turnaround. It is also one of the most difficult items to sort out prior to the Turnaround. The fact that API Turnaround Inspectors travel all over the country increases the need to be...
The second part of this article will continue to provide data regarding tasks to successfully plan for the use of API Inspectors prior to the start of the Turnaround. This article will provide information on what needs to be done to successfully...
The use of contractor inspectors for turnarounds has increased in recent years. Mergers with reductions in staff personnel for major oil and chemical companies have fueled this growth. Still, we hear "horror" stories about problems that occur during...
This three-part article describes some of the advanced on-stream inspection methods available for use in inspection of pressure equipment in the petroleum and petrochemical industry. These methods can be used, under the right circumstances, to...
A paper entitled, "Turnaround Scope Development Through Reliability, Availability and Maintainability Analysis," prepared by Shailendra K. Gupta and John E. Paisie, both senior reliability engineers with Sun Oil Company, Toledo, OH, USA, was...
IGS is an international provider of surface protection solutions. We have over 35 years of experience helping customers solve metal wastage and reliability problems in mission-critical equipment and are an industry leader in the development and application of solutions to corrosion and erosion problems in challenging operating environments.
IGS is an international provider of surface protection solutions. We have over 35 years of experience helping customers solve metal wastage and reliability problems in mission-critical equipment and are an industry leader in the development and application of solutions to corrosion and erosion problems in challenging operating environments.
IGS is an international provider of surface protection solutions. We have over 35 years of experience helping customers solve metal wastage and reliability problems in mission-critical equipment and are an industry leader in the development and application of solutions to corrosion and erosion problems in challenging operating environments.
IGS is an international provider of surface protection solutions. We have over 35 years of experience helping customers solve metal wastage and reliability problems in mission-critical equipment and are an industry leader in the development and application of solutions to corrosion and erosion problems in challenging operating environments.
Evident's industrial solutions range from microscopes and videoscopes to nondestructive testing equipment and X-ray analyzers for maintenance, manufacturing and environmental applications. Backed by state-of-the-art technologies, Evident products are widely used for quality control, inspection, and measurement.
Evident's industrial solutions range from microscopes and videoscopes to nondestructive testing equipment and X-ray analyzers for maintenance, manufacturing and environmental applications. Backed by state-of-the-art technologies, Evident products are widely used for quality control, inspection, and measurement.
DIMATE is an innovative software company dedicated to driving business transformation through the digitization and improvement of NDT and NDE processes. From test data acquisition to evaluation, management and archiving – we cover the entire process. Our solutions help to achieve faster turnarounds and maximizes the plant potential.
DIMATE is an innovative software company dedicated to driving business transformation through the digitization and improvement of NDT and NDE processes. From test data acquisition to evaluation, management and archiving – we cover the entire process. Our solutions help to achieve faster turnarounds and maximizes the plant potential.
Quest Integrity is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity and reliability management services. Our integrated solutions consist of technology-enabled, advanced inspection and engineering assessment services and products that help organizations in the pipeline, refining, chemical, syngas and power industries improve operational planning, increase profitability, and reduce operational and safety risks.
Quest Integrity is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity and reliability management services. Our integrated solutions consist of technology-enabled, advanced inspection and engineering assessment services and products that help organizations in the pipeline, refining, chemical, syngas and power industries improve operational planning, increase profitability, and reduce operational and safety risks.
TEAM, Inc. is a global leading provider of integrated, digitally-enabled asset performance assurance and optimization solutions. We deploy conventional to highly specialized inspection, condition assessment, maintenance and repair services that result in greater safety, reliability and operational efficiency for our client’s most critical assets.
TEAM, Inc. is a global leading provider of integrated, digitally-enabled asset performance assurance and optimization solutions. We deploy conventional to highly specialized inspection, condition assessment, maintenance and repair services that result in greater safety, reliability and operational efficiency for our client’s most critical assets.
Fixed Equipment Reliability is an inspection and NDE company providing world-class Inspection and Mechanical Integrity services to the petrochemical industry. FER was founded by a dedicated team of inspection professionals who specialize in the implementation and optimization of Risk Based Mechanical Integrity programs.
Fixed Equipment Reliability is an inspection and NDE company providing world-class Inspection and Mechanical Integrity services to the petrochemical industry. FER was founded by a dedicated team of inspection professionals who specialize in the implementation and optimization of Risk Based Mechanical Integrity programs.
Understand how turnaround departments should benefit from utilizing certified inspection personnel instead of conventional planners for turnaround planning.
Learn how facilities can utilize their process data to bring MI and operations teams together, optimize turnaround strategy, and reduce risks and costs.
Join us as we team up with Brian Jack and Kraig Shipley from The Equity Engineering Group to discuss how understanding relevant equipment damage mechanisms can help guide turnaround work scopes and inspection planning activities.
Inspectioneering’s first-ever Industry Spotlight features Ryan Streeter, Divisional VP of Digital Operations for MISTRAS Group, joining us to talk about their new digital solution for inspection reporting, MISTRAS Digital®.
This white paper provides case studies and insights that highlight the critical importance of insulation selection for success in petrochemical projects.
This white paper from DIMATE explains how the implementation of a digital end-to-end inspection workflow helped a refinery operator in the Netherlands to optimize on-stream inspections and turnaround planning.
This white paper from the experts at Becht demonstrates how the use of risk-based work selection can result in significant reductions in turnaround work scope.
This Turnaround Planning Guide provides several strategies that support the successful planning, execution, and post-mortem of your next turnaround.
The "Inspection Planning Process Resource Bundle" is a comprehensive package designed to help develop and implement effective inspection planning processes.
This publication outlines 101 Essential Elements that need to be in place and functioning well in order to effectively and efficiently preserve and protect the reliability and integrity of pressure equipment (i.e. vessels, exchangers, furnaces,...
After wrapping up a planned turnaround, BP has delayed the restart of a crude distillation unit and coker unit at its 435,000 bpd Whiting Refinery after the units experienced issues during the restart process.
CITGO Petroleum shut down its 177,000 bpd refinery in Lemont, Illinois, due to a power blip from its electricity supplier
U.S. refineries are planning to take about 529,000 barrels of daily crude-processing capacity offline during the fall turnaround season, the lowest for the period since 2021.
The EIA reports that a series of refinery outages in Chicago and Ohio have generally increased Midwest prices for petroleum products relative to the U.S. average, particularly gasoline.
U.S. oil refiners are trimming Q3 production plans as summer fuel demand ebbs and profit margins remain weak. Operators are budgeting more maintenance downtime into forecasts after running at an industry average 95% of capacity earlier this year.
Our proprietary furnace tube inspection system, FTIS is an ultrasonic inspection technology capable of rapid, automated fired heater coil inspection in refinery fired heaters. The data captured by our furnace tube inspection system is...
Canada's Suncor Energy could exceed its 2024 guidance on oil production and refinery throughput.
The EPA issued an emergency waiver to help alleviate fuel shortages where the supply of gasoline has been impacted by the shutdown of a refinery in Joliet.
ExxonMobil's 251,800-barrel-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, is likely to have most units offline through this week.
Canada's Aamjiwnaang First Nation has declared a state of emergency due to a chemical release from INEOS Styrolution's plastic manufacturing plant in Sarnia, Ontario.
Parkland Corporation announced today that the Burnaby Refinery safely returned to normal operations on March 29, following an unplanned shutdown.
Integrating a new digital technology that combines data-driven insights and data storage with innovative mobility can provide a new level of connected intelligence. Digitalization can improve workflow, increase worker productivity and allow better...
BP's 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery has returned to normal operations for the first time since a February plantwide power outage.
TC Energy's Keystone oil pipeline has resumed service after going offline and temporarily restricting a major conduit of Canadian oil to the United States, which sent oil prices higher.
TotalEnergies began restarting several units at its 230,000 bpd Donges refinery on France's Atlantic coast following maintenance work on Thursday.
Chevron has indefinitely idled two biodiesel production facilities in the U.S. Midwest, the company confirmed on Friday, citing poor market conditions.
Authorities of Mexico's northern border state Nuevo Leon said Friday that they have "closed" the Cadereyta refinery.
Equity Engineering Practices® (EEPs) are a collection of design and maintenance focused corporate standards that include >850 engineering standards, and >300 piping classes. Enhance your mechanical integrity programs, improve equipment...
BP plans to return its 435,000 barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana refinery, the largest in the U.S. Midwest, to full production in March.
Spot petroleum product prices at the Chicago trading hub are increasing after an unplanned outage of bp’s refinery in Whiting, Indiana, on February 1.
BP is acting to restore its Whiting, Indiana, refinery to normal operations following a full shutdown because of a plant-wide power outage.
TotalEnergies' Port Arthur, Texas refinery shut down on Wednesday, two days after restarting following a January 16 plant-wide power outage.
Freeport LNG said on Friday it expects one of three liquefaction units at its Texas plant will be out of service for about a month after it faced a technical issue during last week's Arctic freeze.
In today's chemical and refining industries, sustained long term reliability of facilities is critical to profitability and competitiveness. In fact, history shows that differences in operating expenses between best-in-class refineries, and poor...
Parkland has temporarily shut down processing operations at its Burnaby refinery in British Columbia, Canada after encountering an issue with a processing unit.
Both CDUs and VDUs shut down on Thursday at TotalEnergies 238,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said.
The large crude distillation unit and coker were shut on Monday at Motiva Enterprises 626,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas refinery.
The small crude distillation unit remains shut three weeks after the end of planned overhaul work at TotalEnergies' Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.
Finland's Neste said it will have a major turnaround at its Porvoo refinery for about nine weeks between April and June next year.
Are you truly prepared for your next Turnaround? Effective work processes are required to successfully plan, manage, review and supervise plant turnarounds. Inspection planning and work scope selection are critical aspects of any turnaround...
Motiva moved the start of a planned overhaul on the large crude distillation unit and coker to January from March at its 626,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery.
PetroIneos said on Wednesday it is preparing to shut down its Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland to convert it into a fuels import terminal.
ExxonMobil moved up the start date for a crude distillation unit overhaul at its 619,024 bpd Beaumont, Texas, refinery from August 2024 to June 2024.
Venezuela's largest refining complex, the 955,000-bpd Paraguana Refining Center, was operating at about 10% of capacity on Monday after two crude distillation units were shut due to a fire and lack of feedstock.
ExxonMobil restarted the coker on Thursday night at its 522,500 bpd Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery, people familiar with plant operations said on Friday.
TEAM provides full inline, onsite and, shop valve repair services and maintenance programs for virtually all valve types, brands, sizes, materials, pressures, and operating conditions, including actuators and operators. Our valve repair solution...
LyondellBasell Industries said its Houston refinery would operate at about 80% of 263,776 barrel-per-day capacity in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Pemex shut down the 270,000 bpd CDU at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery on Monday because a process line ruptured, said people familiar with plant operations.
Indonesia's Kilang Pertamina Internasional aims to finish revamping its petrochemical plant Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) in the fourth quarter.
The fire-damaged, gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker at Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay Refinery is expected to be shut until late next week.
A fire broke out at a refinery's pyrolysis gasoline unit at about 10:45 AM followed by the collapse of the extractive dissolution tower.
Traditional pressure vessel inspections often require taking assets out of service. However, MISTRAS’ Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) programs provide data as good or better than internal inspections, while assets remain in service. NII is...
TotalEnergies plans to restart the coker at its 238,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Thursday.
Petrobras will make a scheduled maintenance stoppage at its Gabriel Passos Refinery (Regap) in Minas Gerais state.
TotalEnergies began restarting the reformer at its 238,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday, people familiar with plant operations said.
Full output has resumed at the Mongstad oil refinery in Norway, operator Equinor said on Wednesday, following a partial outage on July 12 due to a lightning strike near the plant.
Shell has begun restarting its 227,900 bpd refinery in Norco, Louisiana after it was shut following a power outage, a company spokesperson said on Sunday.
Traditional, paper-based inspection processes can prevent plants from being as effective as they can be. By digitalizing your mechanical integrity process and data with MISTRAS Digital®, plants have realized up to 75% gains in IDMS data entry and...
Almost one year after its shutdown, PDVSA has resumed operation of the catalytic cracking unit at its El Palito refinery, a key move to alleviate the recent fuel shortage in Venezuela.
Three Corpus Christi Texas refineries reported production disruptions on Sunday as severe thunderstorms raked the area, with heavy rain and lightning.
Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will delay the maintenance at its refinery until next year.
Freeport LNG, the second largest U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, said on Tuesday that federal regulators had approved it to partially restart commercial operations at its Texas plant after an outage that lasted more than eight months.
U.S. oil refiners are dialing back operating runs this quarter after sky-high utilization rates last year, and aim to operate at between 85% and 89% of capacity, according to company outlooks and analysts’ estimates.
Antea delivers highly flexible risk-based asset integrity software with 3D Digital Twin integration to optimize maintenance, reduce risk, and improve mechanical integrity for oil and gas, power generation, and chemical plants and facilities....
The diesel hydrotreater at PBF Energy’s 190,000 bpd Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery is expected to be shut for at least a month of repairs following a fire in the unit on Saturday, people familiar with plant operations said.
China's Panjin Haoye Chemical Co Ltd has shut down its entire oil refinery and petrochemical complex after an explosion on Sunday killed five people and left eight missing, according to trade sources and a local consultancy.
Top U.S. gas exporter, Freeport LNG, is expected to further extend the seven-month-long outage of its LNG export plant in Texas to February, as it awaits regulatory approvals.
Output from Vietnam's largest oil refinery is expected to fall by 20%-25% during the first 10 days of January as its residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit has been shut down due to a technical problem.
TotalEnergies continued restarting the 238,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas refinery on Tuesday after the refinery was shut on Thursday night by severe cold temperatures caused by Winter Storm Elliott.
The OmniScan™ X3 64 phased array and TFM flaw detector is equipped with enhanced phased capabilities and even faster TFM. The rugged and portable instrument features powerful 64-element probes with a 128-aperture TFM.
Most of the productions units remain shut on Sunday at Pemex's 312,500 bpd Deer Park Refinery due to severe cold weather from Winter Storm Elliott.
Shell Plc shut the GO-1 olefins unit in the chemical plant at its Norco, Louisiana, refining and chemical plant complex, said people familiar with plant operations on Monday.
A refining unit that turns crude oil into fuel at Venezuela's largest crude processing facility has broken down, three people familiar with the operations told Reuters on Friday, halting production at the key gasoline producing plant.
Freeport LNG on Friday again delayed the restart of the second-biggest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, moving its forecast for resuming processing to year's end, pending regulatory approval.
Hungarian oil and gas group MOL said on Thursday that its Danube refinery in Szazhalombatta was still operating at 50-55% capacity due to maintenance while the Druzhba pipeline that brings Russian crude was also working with reduced capacity.
Ethos has assembled a team of experts who apply what they learned through years of process safety experience in the industry and dealing with OSHA and EPA. Click here to learn more about our services.
Workers at BP's Rotterdam refinery, which is currently offline, will not help restart operations unless their wage demands are met, union leaders said on Monday.
US LNG company Freeport LNG said it was targeting a mid-December restart for its Texas export plant, which has been shut for six months after a fire, pending regulatory approval.
U.S. regulators will require a new Clean Air Act permit for a troubled oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the EPA said on Thursday.
The second largest crude distillation unit (CDU), a reformer and a lube oil hydrocracker completed restarting and were operating on Thursday at Motiva 626,000 bpd Port Arthur Refinery said people familiar with plant operations.
The restart of Exxon Mobil’s 140,000-bpd Fos-Sur-Mer oil refinery in France should be completed by the end of the week, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Whether you decide for a Computed Radiography scanner with flexible imaging plates or a flat panel detector with the fastest imaging, or even combine the advantages of both technologies, DÜRR NDT's innovative systems offer high reliability and...
A small fire at a vacuum tower and a power blackout halted Venezuela's 955,000-barrel-per-day Paraguana Refining Center early on Thursday, according to six sources close to operations.
Refinery turnaround season in Europe, plus French strike action, is set to push diesel prices higher and tighten supplies ahead of a European Union ban on Russian refined products which is due to come into force early next year.
Strikes have disrupted TotalEnergies' oil products refining and delivery for the third day as disruptions continue at seven sites throughout France, a CGT trade union representative told Reuters.
BP Plc laid off most contractors at the approximately 160,000 barrel-per-day Toledo, Ohio, refinery it owns with Cenovus Energy Inc.
Italy's Eni plans partial maintenance at its 200,000 barrel per day Sannazzaro oil refinery over six weeks.
Traditional inspection methods used to detect internal corrosion and corrosion under insulation (CUI) in piping and pipeline assets can be time-consuming and costly. With ART, you’ll discover CUI detection best practices that can help save you up...
ExxonMobil is gradually shutting down its 235,000 bpd Fos-Sur-Mer refinery in France as a result of ongoing strike action, the company said in an emailed statement on Thursday.
Indian Oil Corp plans maintenance at its 300,000 bpd Panipat refinery in northern India, which includes a shutdown of a naphtha hydrocracker for about 80 days and half of its crude processing for about a month, sources said.
Spanish energy giant Repsol is investing 100 million euros to reduce emissions at its 186,000 bpd Tarragona refinery in Spain, which begins two months of maintenance at the end of the week.
BP Plc was restarting production units on Wednesday at its 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery, one week after the plant was idled by an electrical fire, two sources familiar with plant operations said.
BP's 435,000 bpd Whiting, Indiana, refinery is shut and undergoing damage assessment following the loss of electrical power and cooling water systems in a Wednesday fire, sources familiar with plant operations said on Friday.
With class-leading thermal performance, superior CUI defense, and complimentary engineering support, our aerogel insulation solutions are a top choice in helping facilities drive energy efficiency, improve safety, increase yields, and reduce downtime
A leak at a booster station in Louisiana forced six oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down after oil major Shell was forced to close its Mars and Amberjack pipelines.
Suncor Energy Inc on Monday said that operations at its 98,000 barrel-per-day Commerce City, Colorado, refinery have returned to normal following an earlier equipment malfunction.
Motiva Enterprises plans to overhaul the second largest crude distillation unit (CDU) and a catalytic reformer at its 626,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery beginning as early as Sept. 19, said sources familiar with the company's plans on Friday.
LyondellBasell Industries is considering a "very large investment" at the site of its Houston refinery after it permanently stops refining crude oil by the end of 2023, Chief Executive Peter Vanacker said in a conference call on Friday.
Chevron Phillips used the safety flare system at its Cedar Bayou chemical plant in Baytown, Texas, following a power outage, a company spokesperson said.
Secure your NDT data with our DIMATE PACS solution, which we can install on-premises or run as a cloud service for you. If you would like to reliably store and retrieve your inspection data, contact us at buddy@dimate.de!
South African fuel and petrochemical company Sasol Ltd will restart its refinery by the end of July, it said on Sunday, after the company declared force majeure at its second biggest refinery on Friday due to a lack of crude oil.
Venezuela's largest refinery restarted one of its five crude distillation units on Wednesday following a power outage last week.
TotalEnergies SE restarted the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 238,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Production at Venezuela's largest refinery, which can process about 645,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), was halted late on Saturday by an electrical fault that caused a blackout, according to five people familiar with the matter.
America's refining capacity fell below 18 million b/d at the beginning of 2022, hitting its lowest level since 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's annual refinery capacity report released June 21.
Companies have developed detailed programs for managing wide range of assets. However, unsustainability negatively impacts effectiveness of these programs. Reach out to us on how we can address sustainability through digital transformation.
Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest LNG export plants in the U.S., will shut for at least three weeks following an explosion at its 15-million tonne/year liquefaction plant on the Texas Gulf Coast
LyondellBasell Industries plans to shut its Houston oil refinery by the end of next year, but could close it sooner if an equipment failure hits major units, according to two people familiar with the company's operations.
PBF Energy plans to overhaul a crude distillation unit (CDU), coker and cat feed hydrotreater in October at its 190,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery, said sources familiar with the company’s plans.
Chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries will permanently close its Houston crude oil refinery by the end of 2023, the company said on Thursday.
Exxon Mobil Corp plans to complete an overhaul of a gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 502,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery by April 5, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday.
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Chevron Corp plans to begin an overhaul of the crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 245,271 barrel-per-day Richmond, California, refinery in mid-April.
South Korean authorities have ordered a production halt at one of petrochemical company Yeochun NCC's (YNCC) three naphtha crackers after a blast killed four people and injured four.
Marathon Petroleum's 593,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery and Valero Energy Corp's 225,000 bpd Texas City Refinery were knocked out of production on Friday by a citywide power outage, according to the Texas City emergency management department.
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TotalEnergies SE shut a gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) and small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur refinery in Texas on Saturday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
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Exxon Mobil Corp said on Monday its Baytown, Texas, refinery continued to operate at reduced rates following a fire on Dec. 23, and the unit involved remained shut down.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the $62 million sale of Limetree Bay refinery to a Jamaican oil storage company that intends to restart the refinery.
Following the restart of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, Parkland has begun ramping-up processing operations at its 55,000 bpd Burnaby Refinery in British Columbia.
After a year and a half of Covid-related demand destruction, an onslaught of hurricanes, and a deadly freeze on the Gulf Coast, the U.S. refining market seems to be turning the corner.
TotalEnergies SE (TTEF.PA) began restarting the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Wednesday, sources familiar with plant operations said.
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A large fire broke out at Toledo Refining Company in Oregon, Ohio on Tuesday. Company officials confirmed everyone is safe and has been accounted for at the site.
Sri Lanka has temporarily shut its only oil refinery as part of efforts to manage dwindling foreign exchange reserves, the energy minister said on Tuesday, triggering long queues at petrol stations.
Shell plans to begin restarting several major processing units at its 230,611 bpd Norco Refinery in the coming week after being idled for two months by Hurricane Ida.
Oil refiners are ramping up output to meet a synchronized uptick in global demand, but plant maintenance and high natural gas prices are expected to constrain supply in the fourth quarter.
TotalEnergies SE plans to begin restarting the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker unit at its 225,500 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery by Oct. 14, said sources familiar with plant operations on Thursday.
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A chemical plant unit will lead the restart of Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L) Norco, Louisiana, refinery and chemical plant complex in mid-October following repairs from Hurricane Ida, said sources familiar with plant operations.
bp plans to invest $269 million in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state, aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions, and increasing its renewable diesel production capability.
An explosion at around 11:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 27th at Westlake Chemical's Lake Charles Petrochemical Complex left six people injured.
Shell is tentatively planning the first restart of a production unit at its 230,611 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery for mid-October following Hurricane Ida.
Marathon Petroleum Corp on Monday said its 363,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Los Angeles, California refinery experienced a power loss on Friday after an earthquake struck the region.
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Phillips 66's 255,600-barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery faces a monthslong shutdown for repairs following flooding from Hurricane Ida, sources familiar with plant operations said on Friday.
Damage to oil production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has kept output largely halted, however four Louisiana refineries, accounting for 1.3 million bpd of U.S. refining capacity, have initiated restart processes.
Colonial Pipeline has restored service to Lines 1 & 2, which run from Houston, TX to Greensboro, NC, following a temporary shutdown in advance of Hurricane Ida making landfall off the coast of Louisiana.
Following Hurricane Ida, analysts said it could take 2-3 weeks to restart producing platforms and fully resume output at Louisiana refineries. Restoring power, critical to refineries, also could take weeks, utilities officials said.
Pemex said on Monday that it has resumed 421,000 barrels-per-day in oil production and brought back online 125 wells following a deadly fire at an offshore platform on Aug. 22.
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Diesel and gasoline production was cut by about a third at Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 593,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, following a key compressor outage on Thursday, sources familiar with plant operations said on Friday.
The process of decommissioning the shuttered Limetree Bay refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands will take several months, the company's owner told a Texas bankruptcy court on Monday.
SAPREF, South Africa’s largest refinery located in the east coast port city of Durban, has been temporarily shut down as the country struggles with mass looting and the worst violence in years.
Marathon Petroleum Corp is restarting a reformer at its 593,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, said sources familiar with plant operations on Thursday.
Chevron is considering permanently closing the gasoline-producing FCC at its 112,229 bpd Pasadena, Texas refinery as part of a possible reconfiguration of the plant, said sources familiar with the company’s deliberations.
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The scheduled maintenance turnaround at Neste’s Porvoo refinery in Finland is now successfully completed and production has started at the refinery.
Exxon restarted the small crude distillation unit at its 502,500 barrel-per-day Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery on Thursday, following a month of planned maintenance work.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc completed restarting the second stage of the hydrocracker at its 227,400 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said on Tuesday.
A fire on the small hydrocracking unit was extinguished on Thursday afternoon at Valero Energy Corp's 335,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.
Reliance Industries forced to shut FCCU at Jamnagar Refinery for maintenance.
ExxonMobil recently announced that the company will move forward with a $247 million investment into capital improvements at its 500,000 bpd Baton Rouge Refinery.
Multiple units have reportedly been shut at Valero Energy Corp's 89,000 barrel-per-day Three Rivers Refinery following a fire on Sunday.
The hydrocracker at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's 227,400 barrel-per-day Norco, Louisiana, refinery was partially shut on Tuesday because of a malfunction, said sources familiar with plant operations
Eneos Corporation, Japan's biggest refiner, is dealing with outages and maintenance events at several of its refineries.
State run Hindustan Petroleum has shut a 70,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude unit at its Vizag refinery in Southern India after a fire broke out at about 15:00 pm local time (0930 GMT) on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.
Royal Dutch Shell was still evaluating plans for an idled Louisiana oil refinery, the company said on Monday, after a Baton Rouge investor said over the weekend his $1.25 billion offer was not accepted.
India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp.'s Mumbai refinery will start full scale operation at a higher capacity of 190,000 bpd by end-June or in July, its chairman M. K. Surana said on Thursday.
Four U.S. Gulf Coast refineries slowed production on Tuesday as heavy rains fell, flooding areas across East Texas and Louisiana this week.
The troubled Limetree Bay oil refinery in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, has suspended operations after a malfunction sent oil raining onto a nearby neighborhood, the company said late Wednesday.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp restarted its No. 1 naphtha cracker at the company's Mailiao Refinery after a technical problem shut the unit last week.
Archer Daniels Midland said on Thursday it would restart ethanol production at two of its U.S. corn dry mills this year, as the grains trader expects demand for the biofuel to rebound from a pandemic-led slump.
After thorough planning work, Neste's Porvoo refinery is preparing to execute a major 12-week turnaround starting in April.
Niger's Soraz refinery was shut down on Friday after a failure occurred in the 20,000 bpd facility's catalytic cracking unit.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is preparing to restart the crude distillation units (CDUs) at its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery as early as Sunday night, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Marathon Petroleum Corp is preparing to restart a crude distillation unit (CDU) by early next week at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery.
Marathon Petroleum has begun restarting a crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery, as the refinery recovers from the effects of severe cold weather a week ago, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Lyondell Basell Industries shut the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston oil refinery on Tuesday to begin repairs to the cooling water system.
Valero Energy Corp has boosted production on the restarted small crude distillation unit (CDU) and the coker at its 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
A deep freeze across the United States is taking a toll on the energy industry in the largest U.S. crude-producing state, halting Texas oil wells and refineries on Monday and forcing restrictions from natural gas and crude pipeline operators.
Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to shut several units at its 585,000 barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in mid-February for a planned overhaul.
Limetree Bay Refining has successfully resumed operations and begun production and commercial sales of refined products.
India’s HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) will shut its 226,000 bpd Bathinda refinery in northern Punjab state for about 40 days from end-January for maintenance.
Methanex Corporation has announced that it expects its Titan methanol facility in Trinidad (875,000 annual operating capacity) will remain idled indefinitely.
BP Plc has given the Limetree Bay Refinery in St. Croix more time to fully restart and retain its crude oil supply agreement after the plant failed to hit operating targets last year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt, seven sources familiar with the discussions said.
Three naphtha crackers in South Korea, one of Asia’s largest petrochemical centers, are to resume operations in December and January after months of maintenance and outages, company officials said on Tuesday.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to complete the permanent shutdown of its 211,146 barrel-per-day (bpd) Convent, Louisiana, refinery within 10 days, sources familiar with the company’s plans said.
A fire at Norway’s Tjeldbergodden industrial facility on Wednesday triggered an evacuation of staff and the shutdown of Europe’s largest methanol plant and a gas processing terminal.
Neste will shut down its refinery in Naantali, Finland and cut 370 jobs to seek savings worth 50 million euros ($59.9 million) due to declining demand for fossil oil products, the Finnish biofuel producer and oil refiner said on Monday.
China is on track to eclipse the U.S. as the world's top refining power, a position it has held since the mid-19th century, following a series of major refinery closures in the states.
Permanent refining capacity closures expected for 2020-2021 have risen to about 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) as the COVID-19 pandemic hammers demand for oil products, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.
Oil producers on Monday shut offshore production and pulled workers off platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as the 27th named storm of the season strengthened into a hurricane and took aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it plans to carry out major maintenance work on an undisclosed unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands from mid-October to end November.
Energy companies forged ahead restoring oil and natural gas production in the U.S.-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico on Monday, three days after Hurricane Delta made landfall, said the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
Storm-tossed U.S. offshore energy producers and exporters began clearing debris on Thursday from Hurricane Sally and booting up idle Gulf of Mexico operations after hunkering down for five days.
Sempra Energy said it expects the Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Louisiana to return to full service in six weeks after lingering power outages from Hurricane Laura have kept it shut since late August.
Offshore platforms and one refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast shut down on Sunday as they prepared for a second hurricane strike in less than a month.
Citgo recently released an update on the status of its Lake Charles Refinery following Hurricane Laura, stating that the company expected all refinery units to be operational by mid to late October.
South African petrochemicals group Sasol said on Monday that its Lake Charles Chemical facility in the U.S. state of Louisiana remained shut after Hurricane Laura made landfall last week.
Exxon Mobil Corp restored stable power to its 369,024-barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery on Thursday as it prepares to begin restarting production units, said sources familiar with plant operations.
U.S. energy companies on Thursday were organizing crews to evaluate offshore Gulf of Mexico platforms and assess damage to coastal operations as Hurricane Laura took its fierce winds inland.
According to sources familiar with plant operations, Motiva Enterprises may shut the largest crude oil refinery in the United States for the passage of Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura later this week.
The Philippine unit of Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it will permanently shut one of the country’s two oil refineries, blaming a pandemic-led slump in margins, with other regional closures likely to follow, according to analysts.
Marathon Petroleum plans to permanently close two small U.S. oil refineries in Martinez, California, and Gallup, New Mexico, the company said, eliminating 800 jobs in response to lower fuels demand.
Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to restart a 200,000 barrels per day crude unit at its 310,000 bpd Kochi refinery in southern India by end of this month after a three-week maintenance shutdown, its head of refineries said.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped a leak on Tuesday in the shut gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
U.S. refineries have sustained fewer mechanical outages as production has fallen because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, according to data from energy intelligence service Industrial Info Resources.
Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex in western Gujarat, will shut one of its crude refining units at its export-focused plant in the fourth week of July for 3-4 weeks of maintenance.
Chevron Corp restarted the 112,229 barrel-per-day (bpd) Pasadena, Texas, refinery on Tuesday night after completing a multi-unit overhaul that was extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp has shut a residue desulphuriser (RDS) unit at its 540,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Mailiao refinery after it was hit by a fire early on Wednesday, three sources close to the matter said.
Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has restarted gasoline output at its 310,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Cardon refinery, two people familiar with the matter said, as the OPEC nation suffers from fuel shortages.
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Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to finish a multi-unit overhaul in late July at its 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, said sources familiar with plant operations.
U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp is delaying all maintenance projects at its 102,000 barrel-per-day St. Paul Park, Minnesota, refinery for 2020, a source familiar with the matter said, amid concerns related to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Citgo Petroleum Corp restarted the large gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker on Wednesday at its 167,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery on Wednesday following a pump outage.
Two people were killed on Thursday in an explosion at Astron Energy’s 100,000 barrel per day refinery in Cape Town.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to restart the 40,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) reformer over the weekend at its 227,400 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said on Tuesday.
Exxon Mobil Corp is restarting the hydrocracker at its 560,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baytown, Texas, refinery on Tuesday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
The cost of overhauling a long-idled Caribbean oil refinery has nearly doubled to about $2.7 billion, said people familiar with the matter, as it prepares to start commercial operations amid an oversupplied fuel market.
Shell has restarted the crude distillation unit (CDU), coker, and gasoline-producing cat cracker at its 225,300 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Marathon Petroleum Corp has shut the hydrocracker and alkylation unit at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas as part of a multi-unit overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Exxon Mobil Corp completed the restart on Wednesday of the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 369,024-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Beaumont, Texas, sources familiar with plant operations said.
Three of Enbridge’s pipelines were shut following a fire on the company’s Line 10 segment of its Texas Eastern Natural Gas System, in Fleming County, Kentucky on May 4, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp said it will shut down its 110,000-barrel-per-day Tabangao refinery in the Philippines for one month from mid-May in response to slumping oil demand.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has begun a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown.
Kuibyshev oil refinery, owned by Russian energy giant Rosneft, has halted operations for maintenance from April 15 until June 1, according to Refinitiv Eikon data citing the energy ministry.
PBF Energy is restarting key units at its Chalmette Refinery as it works to bring the entire facility back online by the end of the week.
Shell plans to start large-scale maintenance of its Pernis refinery in the Netherlands in mid-April, more than two weeks earlier than previously planned.
Nigeria has decided to shut down all its oil refineries as it works to secure funding and a model to upgrade them, the head of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Wednesday.
Caltex Australia Ltd plans to extend the planned shutdown of its sole oil refinery Lytton refinery to ward off the expected hit to refining amid the pressures on demand from the coronavirus pandemic
A brief loss of power forced Royal Dutch Shell Plc to shut the coker at its 225,300 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery early on Thursday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Pakistan’s Attock Refinery is operating its 54,000 barrels per day plant at 29% capacity and is prepared to shut the complex in a week’s time if local demand does not recover.
North Atlantic has decided to idle its Come By Chance Refinery amid growing safety and economic concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Exxon Mobil plans to shut the small gasoline-producing unit at its 560,500 barrels-per-day Baytown, Texas, refinery by early next week because of low demand due to efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Husky Energy has elected to suspend rebuilding its oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, that was damaged by an explosion and fire two years ago, the company announced Tuesday.
In response to reduced refined product demand in Hawaii resulting from COVID-19, Par Pacific has decreased throughput rates for its Hawaii refinery, and intends to defer the turnaround of its Hawaii refinery until the third quarter of 2020.
French oil and gas major Total said on Monday that it has postponed the restart of its 102,000 barrels per day (bpd) Grandpuits refinery near Paris indefinitely because of a drop in fuel demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the related exceptional and extensive measures, the implementation of the major turnaround 2020 of the Porvoo refinery as originally planned has been delayed.
Lyondell Basell Industries said maintenance operations were staffed at its Houston refinery to assure safety and reliability.
ExxonMobil has restarted the last crude distillation unit that had been shut by a Feb 12 fire at its 502,500 bpd Baton Rouge refinery.
Shell has shut a coker at the company's 225,300 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery for planned maintenance on the unit’s furnaces, according to sources familiar with plant operations.
South Korea’s Lotte Chemical has shut its naphtha cracker after an explosion at the plant in the southwestern city of Seosan, which injured 31 people, the company said on Wednesday.
Shell has restarted a catalytic reformer at its 211,270 bpd refinery in Convent, Louisiana after repairing damage caused by a fire on February 16th.
ExxonMobil is restarting several units at the company's 502,500 bpd Baton Rouge Refinery following a pipeline fire in early February.
A portion of Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 363,000 barrel-per-day Carson refinery in California has been shut following a fire, the company said on Wednesday.
A catalytic reformer was shut on Sunday night at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 211,270 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Convent, Louisiana, after a brief fire, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Exxon Mobil Corp began restarting units shut by a Wednesday fire at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery and chemical plant complex on Thursday night.
Exxon Mobil Corp does not have a timeline for restarting fuel-producing units at its second-largest U.S. refinery following a fire Wednesday that cut production.
Lyondell Basell Industries restarted a large crude distillation unit at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery last Thursday after the unit had been shut the week prior for maintenance.
Motiva Enterprises plans to finish shutting down the gasoline-producing unit at its 607,000 barrel-perday (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday to begin a planned overhaul of the unit, sources familiar with plant operations said.
Valero Energy Corp reportedly shut down a diesel hydrotreater on Saturday at the company's 335,000 bpd refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.
French energy major Total has postponed the restart of a distillation unit at its 220,000-barrel-per-day Donges Refinery until Friday due to a nationwide strike over planned pensions reform, the company said on Wednesday.
French oil group Total halted on Sunday a distillation unit at its Donges refinery on France’s western coast due to lack of crude supply during the country’s current strikes
French workers voted last Monday to halt production at a key oil facility that supplies Paris and the surrounding region, joining other petroleum industry shutdowns in a nationwide strike against government pension reforms.
French oil major Total said on Saturday that production at its 253,000 barrel-per-day Gonfreville Normandy refinery in northern France was partially halted following a fire that broke overnight.
Vietnam’s $9 billion Nghi Son refinery will be fully operational this week following a shutdown in late October for major maintenance work.
Negotiations on the last major regulatory hurdle to restarting an idled Caribbean oil refinery have dragged on, threatening further delay to a private-equity backed project that seeks to profit from a 2020 clean-air fuel mandate.
A hydrotreater and reformer were operating normally on Monday after being restarted late last week at Motiva Enterprises’ 607,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
PBF Energy began restarting the cat feed hydrotreater at its 190,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Chalmette, Louisiana, oil refinery on Monday, a day ahead of schedule, two sources familiar with the plant’s operations said.
A $1.6 billion plan to refurbish a long-idled Caribbean oil refinery is about 75% complete and could begin delivering fuel supplies early next year, company and government officials said this week.
Although Phillips 66, the 4th largest U.S. refiner by capacity, plans to spend less on capital projects in 2020 than 2019, the company plans to execute major projects at its Sweeny (TX), Ponca City (OK), Rodeo (CA), and Humber (England) refineries.
Husky Energy has received the required permit approvals to begin reconstruction activities at its damaged Superior Refinery. The rebuild will take place over the next two years with an expected return to full operations in 2021.
BP Plc began a planned overhaul on Wednesday of the small gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery
Exxon Mobil Corp began shutting its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday morning because of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda
Total plans to return the 66,000 bpd Diesel Hydrotreater 3, which was shut on Aug. 20, to production later on Monday, sources said. Total has repeatedly pushed back the restart date as repairs have taken longer than expected to complete.
A biofuels producer said on Thursday it is proposing to acquire the fire-damaged Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and convert it to make renewable diesel and jet fuels.
A fire broke out Thursday at Pertamina's 260,000 bpd Balikpapan refinery in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan. No casualties were reported.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc will begin restarting units at its Norco, Louisiana chemical and refining facilities this week following overhauls.
Motiva Enterprises returned two crude distillation units (CDUs) back to normal operations at its 607,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery over the weekend.
Phillips 66 restarted the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 253,600-barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery following a month-long shutdown
Motiva Enterprises plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Marathon Petroleum Corp may restart a reformer at its 585,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, by the end of the week.
India’s state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp plans to shut some secondary units at its Mumbai and Vizag refineries in the current fiscal year in order to be able sell Euro-VI compliant fuel from April, according to its chairman M. K. Surana.
Valero Energy Corp shut a hydrocracking unit (HCU) and sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at its 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said on Monday, its second such filing in less than two years, after a fire last month prompted it to close the largest refinery on the U.S. East Coast.
The Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery, the oldest and largest on the U.S. East Coast, is expected to shut its remaining units on Monday as the plant uses up the last of its crude supplies, sources said on Wednesday.
The gasoline-producing unit at Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, may remain shut for two to eight weeks for repairs.
An intensifying tropical storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Thursday cut more than half the region’s oil output, with energy companies evacuating staff from nearly 200 offshore facilities and a coastal refinery.
Venezuela’s Amuay and Cardon refineries are halted following a blackout in the early morning hours, two oil industry sources with knowledge of the issue said on Sunday.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions notified union workers on Wednesday that it was delaying planned layoffs until Aug. 25, according to two sources familiar with the company’s operations.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) is expected to seek to permanently shut its oil refinery in the city after a massive fire caused substantial damage to the complex, two sources familiar with the plans said on Tuesday.
Massive explosions that engulfed a Philadelphia refinery in flames on Friday have renewed concerns about the oil industry’s use of hydrofluoric acid to make high-octane gasoline at plants in densely populated areas.
Cameroon's 42,000 bpd Sonara Refinery was forced to shut down after a storage tank explosion and fire over the weekend.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Citgo Petroleum said it is currently in talks with the government of Aruba on its oil refinery operating contract, a day after Aruba announced it would form a committee to decide on the future of the plant.
The government of Aruba said on Monday it will form an advisory committee to decide the future of a 209,000-barrel-per-day refinery that remains idled amid sanctions on operator Citgo Petroleum’s parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
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Venezuela’s 310,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Cardon oil refinery, operated by state-run oil company PDVSA, halted operations on Wednesday due to damage at some of its units.
U.S. oil refiners are planning a heavy slate of plant overhauls in the second quarter, with total production this month off 8.5 percent compared with the start of the year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd plans to shut a 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude unit and some secondary units for maintenance from mid-April for about a month, a company source said.
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp will raise the throughput at its crude oil refinery from the second-half of April after finishing maintenance at a crude unit, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
A large fire broke out this weekend at Intercontinental Terminals Company's (ITC) storage facility in La Porte, TX, just outside of Houston. The fire originated on Sunday in one storage tank holding Naptha, but has since spread to seven other tanks.
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A planned overhaul of the second-largest crude distillation unit at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 502,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery is expected to continue for at least five weeks.
