State-owned Petroecuador has shut down its 110,000-b/d Esmeraldas refinery for 40 days of planned maintenance related to a 14-month program of phased rehabilitation and modernization projects under way at the plant (OGJ Online, July 15, 2014).
Processing and production operations at Esmeraldas were suspended completely beginning on Oct. 1 in order to execute the scheduled work, Petroecuador said in a statement.
During the shutdown period, Petroecuador will carry out maintenance and renovation projects on the refinery’s water cooling systems, air lines, main flare line, and two catalytic units, the company said.
Appropriate measures previously were put into place to ensure safe and reliable fuel supplies to Ecuador’s domestic market during the maintenance shutdown, Petroecuador said.
The company began its Esmeraldas rehabilitation and modernization program on July 12, when unidentified processing units were temporarily suspended to begin work on infrastructure within the refining complex.
The rehabilitation of the Esmeraldas refinery aims to equip the plant to operate at 100% of its nameplate operational and production capacity as well as increase its environmental performance by reducing emissions levels that conform to national and international standards.
The full rehabilitation and modernization overhaul is scheduled to be completed in late 2015, Petroecuador said.
