Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has restarted the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 645,000-b/d Amuay refinery in northwestern Venezuela’s Falcon state following the unit’s unplanned shutdown in early July.
Corrective maintenance on the 166,500-b/d FCCU has been completed, with the unit reentering operations as of Aug. 25, PDVSA said.
Repairs to the unit previously were scheduled to wrap on or about July 28, the state-run company said previously (OGJ Online, July 20, 2015).
PDVSA shuttered the unit on July 1 following unidentified problems with its regenerator and associated minor equipment.
Remaining processing units at the Amuay refinery as well as at the nearby 310,000-b/d Cardon refinery—which together comprise PDVSA’s 955,000-b/d Paraguana Refining Center continued to operate normally during the unplanned maintenance period.
Despite the unit’s extended outage, the company said it maintains sufficient fuel inventories to meet both its domestic and international supply commitments.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
