Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) is investigating the cause of a fire that broke out at its 415,000-b/d Replan refinery in Paulínia, Sao Paulo.
The fire, which occurred on Aug. 20, reached part of two units at the refinery, including the U-200 atmospheric distillation unit and U-220A catalytic cracking unit, Petrobras said.
The incident did not affect the refineries other operating units, operations of which were suspended as a preventative measure.
Petrobras said it has initiated the process of restarting nonimpacted units at the site and plans to resume production during the next few days.
While the operator has no timetable yet for the restart of the U-200 and U-220A units, Petrobras confirmed delivery of products to distributors from Replan’s own inventories as well as from other Petrobras refineries resumed on Aug. 21, guaranteeing fuel supply to its customers.
The company said it has created an internal committee to investigate possible causes of the incident.
The largest of Petrobras’s refineries, Replan processes about 80% of Brazil’s oil production, most of which comes from the Campos basin.
Alongside two distillation units and two catalytic cracking units, the refinery also houses two delayed cokers, two diesel hydrotreaters, two cracked-naphtha hydrodesulfurization units, one hydrogen recovery unit, and one propylene separation unit, according to the operator’s web site.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
