Formosa delays CDU restart, to operate at 80% of capacity in May
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp has delayed the restart of some refinery units after completing maintenance and planned to process crude at a reduced rate in May, company spokesman KY Lin told Reuters.
The company now plans to restart the No.2 of its three crude distillation units (CDUs) around May 10, after more than a month’s shutdown for scheduled maintenance, he said. The CDU was initially planned for restart around April 20.
The delay was caused by the extended maintenance of one of its two residue desulphurizers (RDSs), he said, which just restarted earlier in May. The RDS was also initially planned for restart around April 20.
After the No.2 CDU unit’s restart, Formosa plans to process 440,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in May, about 20% below the refinery’s nameplate capacity of 540,000 bpd, he said. Earlier, the company had planned to operate at 480,000 bpd after the maintenance.
The other two CDUs are currently operating at around 85% of capacity, he added.
The company plans to restart one of its two residue fluid catalytic crackers (RFCCs) around May 20 after maintenance, and lower the averaged output of its two RFCCs to 60 percent of capacity, he said. The currently running RCFF is operating at 90% of capacity.
“Because the utilisation rate of RFCCs will be lower, so we may increase the export of low-sulphur fuel oil and decrease the export of gasoline,” he said.
The restart dates are subject to changes, Lin added.
Formosa operates three CDUs with a capacity of 180,000 bpd each, while the capacity of each of its RDS units is 80,000 bpd.
Reporting by Shu Zhang, editing by Louise Heavens
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