Formosa Petrochemical to reduce rates at 540,000 bpd refinery in March to 56%

28-Jan-11

Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp will slash runs at its 540,000 bpd refinery in March to about 56% of total capacity because of a planned maintenance, as per Reuters. Crude distillation unit (CDU) No. 1, a residue desulphurising unit (RDS) and a residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) are being shut down in March for maintenance. The other two crude units will continue to run, but their total runs will have to be reduced to 300,000 bpd because of the shutdown of the RDS. Formosa operates three CDUs of equal capacity, at 180,000 bpd each. No. 1 CDU and the 84,000 bpd RFCC will be idled for about 40 days, starting mid-March. With one of their two units out, their gasoline output will surely be lower. Tterm exports from the firm are will likely be unaffected as those are committed volumes and the shutdown is planned ahead. But spot exports may be impacted.