Oman Oil Refineries & Petroleum Industries Co. (ORPIC) has started the largest and most complex planned turnaround of its 116,000-b/d refinery and associated polypropylene plant at Sohar as part of the company’s integration strategy for its ongoing Sohar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP), a brownfield, multibillion dollar modernization program to add major technical improvements to the existing refinery (OGJ Online, May 1, 2014).
The turnaround, which runs from Feb. 23 to Apr. 23, will include standard maintenance work to improve overall operational performance, safety, and reliability of both plants, including an extensive revamp of the existing refinery’s residual catalytic cracking unit, ORPIC said on Feb. 23.
While in sync with ORPIC’s normal cycle for plant turnarounds, which occur every 3 years, this year’s turnaround will be larger in scope to accommodate modifications to existing operations that will enable full integration of the new units included as part of SRIP, which is due to be fully commissioned later this year (OGJ Online, Aug. 17, 2015), according to the company.
The 2-month refinery shutdown, however, will not result in disruptions to national fuel supplies, ORPIC said.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
