REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: China throughput up slightly despite heavy maintenance

London — China's crude throughput in April edged up 0.1% to 14.15 million b/d from March despite heavy maintenance, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The slightly higher daily throughput was attributed to state-owned refiners raising crude runs at their operating refineries to compensate those shut for maintenance in order to meet improving domestic demand, refiners said. China's total output of six key oil products -- LPG, naphtha, gasoline, jet fuel, gasoil and fuel oil -- rose 5% in April to 38.44 million mt, as demand recovers in the wake of easing movement restrictions, the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Crude and bitumen blend imports for China's independent refineries in April fell 8.7% month on month to 3.64 million b/d, or 14.92 million mt, due to heavy refinery maintenance and high feedstock inventories at ports, data collected by S&P Global Platts showed. In April, about 21.2 million mt/year of capacity was shut for maintenance from seven Shandong independent refineries, the highest in a month since March 2020.

China's crude throughput in the second quarter is likely to be buoyed by improving domestic demand and a shortage of oil product supplies due to the introduction of consumption taxes on light cycle oil and mixed aromatics, analysts said May 17.

Separately, PetroChina's flagship refinery Dalian Petrochemical in northeastern Liaoning province, will boost gasoil exports by 40% in May, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Planned gasoil exports will be raised to 280,000 mt, from 200,000 mt in April. Gasoline and jet fuel exports will be largely unchanged at 280,000 mt and 120,000 mt, respectively, from last month. Dalian will also cut the run rates by about two percentage points month on month to about 84% of its nameplate capacity in May. The refinery will shut its No. 1 crude distillation unit of 6 million mt/year for about five days for a check-up, which will cut its crude throughput slightly.

PetroChina's Liaoyang Petrochemical refinery in northeastern Liaoning province plans to export 80,000 mt of gasoil in May, double the 40,000 mt it exported in April, a refinery source told S&P Global Platts.

China's West Pacific Petrochemical Corp. refinery in the northeastern Liaoning province, plans to export 60,000 mt of jet fuel in May, the first in months, a company source told S&P Global Platts. This will be the first jet fuel export after months of suspension since August 2020, when 20,000 mt was exported in July 2020. Besides jet fuel, Dalian Wepec will also increase gasoil exports to 220,000 mt in May, up 19% on the month.

Japan's crude throughput fell 4% on the week to 2.16 million b/d in the week of May 9-15, with its crude run rates also declining to 62.3% in the week, data released May 19 by the Petroleum Association of Japan showed.

The crude throughput dipped 0.4% from a year ago, according to S&P Global Platts data. The refinery utilization rates decreased from 64.9% in the week to May 8.

The decreased May 9-15 crude throughput came on the heels of scheduled and unplanned refinery maintenance programs.

ENEOS on May 11 shut the sole 168,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Kashima refinery on the east coast for unplanned repair work, which was followed by Fuji Oil's shutdown of the the sole 143,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its only Sodegaura refinery in Tokyo Bay on May 12 for a scheduled turnaround until July 7.

Idemitsu Kosan also shut on May 17 the 155,000 b/d No. 3 crude distillation unit at its 255,000 b/d Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan for scheduled maintenance.

ENEOS, however, restarted on May 14 the sole 127,500 b/d crude distillation unit at its Wakayama refinery in the western Japan and also restarted on May 14 the 95,200 b/d No. 2 crude distillation unit at its 200,200 b/d Mizushima-B plant in the west.

ENEOS restarted the sole 145,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Sendai refinery in Northeast Japan on May 18, a company spokesperson said May 19. The unit had been suspended since the earthquake offshore Miyagi on May 1.

NEW AND ONGOING MAINTENANCE

UPGRADES

LAUNCHES

Near-term maintenance

New and revised entries

Japan

** ENEOS on May 11 shut the sole 168,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Kashima refinery on the east coast for unplanned repair work,

** ENEOS restarted the sole 145,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Sendai refinery in Northeast Japan on May 18, a company spokesperson said May 19. The unit had been suspended since the earthquake offshore Miyagi on May 1.

** Idemitsu Kosan shut the 155,000 b/d No. 3 crude distillation unit at its 255,000 b/d Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan for scheduled maintenance on May 17, a company spokesperson said May 18. The turnaround will last for about one and a half months or two months, the person said.

** Japan's Cosmo Oil shut its 36,000 b/d desulfurization unit at the Chiba refinery from May 11 to mid-June for planned maintenance, according to a source close to the company.

** Japan's ENEOS shut the sole 141,000 b/d crude distillation unit at the Sakai refinery in western Japan for scheduled maintenance on May 18, a spokesperson said May 19. The company plans to restart the unit at the end of June, the spokesperson said.

** Japan's ENEOS restarted the sole 127,500 b/d crude distillation unit at its Wakayama refinery in the west of the country on May 14, a spokesperson said May 17. All units including petrochemical plants were shut after a fire near the 39,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker on March 29.

** Japanese refiner Fuji Oil said May 10 it will shut the sole 143,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its only Sodegaura refinery in Tokyo Bay on May 12 for a scheduled turnaround until July 7. Fuji Oil's scheduled maintenance, which will be the major one taking place every four year, will bring down its crude throughput and oil products sales in fiscal year 2021-2022 (April-March) amid the coronavirus pandemic, a company spokesman said. For fiscal 2021-22, Fuji Oil plans to cut its crude throughput volume by 7.3% on the year to 6.250 million kl, or 107,702 b/d, and plans to keep its refinery runs at around 90%, excluding impact from the major refinery maintenance because of ongoing negative impact from the coronavirus pandemic, the spokesman said.

Existing entries

Japan

** Japan's Cosmo Oil plans to shut the 75,000 b/d No. 1 crude distillation unit at its 177,000 b/d Chiba refinery in Tokyo Bay as well as the sole 100,000 b/d CDU at the Sakai refinery in western Japan for scheduled maintenance in autumn, a spokeswoman said Feb. 16. The works are expected to last about a month at both units, the spokeswoman added, but declined to add further details.

** Japan's Idemitsu Kosan on April 28 shut the sole 190,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Chiba refinery in Tokyo bay for scheduled maintenance, a spokesperson said April 28.

** Japan's Idemitsu Kosan plans to shut at Aichi refinery the sole 160,000 b/d CDU from October to November.

** Japanese refiner Taiyo Oil plans to shut two crude distillation units at the sole 138,000 b/d Kikuma refinery over early June to early August for scheduled maintenance, a company spokesman said April 13. Taiyo Oil will shut one CDU for about a month, then shut down the other after restarting, but it has not yet decided whether to stop the 106,000 b/d No. 1 CDU or the 32,000 b/d No. 2 CDU first, the spokesman added. "We will maintain a stable supply of oil products because we carry out regular maintenance while operating one CDU," he said. Taiyo Oil undertakes a large-scale planned maintenance every four years to shut all units, including the 32,000 b/d RFCC, which is scheduled in 2022, the spokesman said.

** Japan's ENEOS said April 28 it has delayed the restart of the 95,200 b/d No. 2 crude distillation unit at its 200,200 b/d Mizushima-B plant in western Japan to mid-May. ENEOS had expected to restart the No. 2 CDU at the end of April following the completion of planned maintenance.

** Japan's ENEOS said March 22 it plans to restart the fire-hit sole 136,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Oita refinery in the southwest in August 2021. The restart of the Oita CDU comes after the investigative committee, including external experts, compiled a final report, which has been accepted by the relevant authorities. ENEOS, which has been transferring oil products from its other refineries in Japan to Oita, will consider the optimal run rate for the group's refineries in an effort to ensure stable supply, following this latest plan for the restart of its Oita CDU, a company spokeswoman said. A fire broke out at ENEOS' Oita CDU on May 26 last year during scheduled maintenance that had started on May 12.

** Japan's largest refiner ENEOS said it will decommission the 120,000 b/d No. 1 CDU at its 270,000 b/d Negishi refinery in Tokyo Bay in October 2022, bringing down its total refining capacity to around 1.75 million b/d. ENEOS' latest move comes as it has been considering ways to optimize its refining system in Japan in the face of a sharp decline in domestic oil demand, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, amid increased competition in Asia. Under the latest development, it will also decommission secondary units attached to the No. 1 CDU, including a vacuum distillation unit and fluid catalytic cracker, the capacities of which were not immediately disclosed. ENEOS will also decommission a 270,000 mt/year lubricant output unit at the Negishi refinery.

China

** Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical has shut a 6 million mt/yr CDU and secondary units for maintenance over April-June. It also shut petrochemical units from March 1 while the refining units, including its two crude distillation units, were to be shut from April 15. Sinopec Shanghai plans to complete the maintenance on June 8.

** Sinopec's Yanshan Petrochemical shut a 8 million mt/yr CDU for maintenance end March that will restart in mid-May.

** Sinopec's Yangtze Petrochemical shut some secondary units for maintenance over April-May.

** Sinopec's Fujian Refining and Chemical Co. refinery in southeastern Fujian province will shut a 4 million mt/yr CDU for maintenance from mid-October to mid-November.

** Sinopec's Shanghai Gaoqiao refinery will shut for maintenance from end October to early December.

** Sinopec's Jiujiang Petrochemical in southern Jiangxi province, has shut its refinery since April 1 for a 45-day scheduled maintenance, according to its official Wechat account. This is the first time that the refinery has been shut for maintenance in the past four years, as the last maintenance was carried out in 2017. About 35 major units will be maintained during the shutdown, it said. Jiujiang Petrochemical has processed about 7.02 million mt of crude in 2020, about 20,000 mt higher than its initial target.

** PetroChina has shut its Fushun refinery in northeast China's Liaoning province since April 5, for a 50-day scheduled maintenance, according to its official Wechat account. The shutdown of the 8 million mt/year crude distillation units on April 5 kicked off the start of the maintenance, it said. The refinery last carried out a 45-day scheduled maintenance over June-July 2017 and expects to carry out the next maintenance five years later.

** PetroChina's Dagang Petrochemical will shut for maintenance over mid-May and end June.

** Sinopec's Qilu Petrochemical will shut a 4 million mt/year CDU for maintenance from mid-August till late September.

** Sinopec's Shijiazhuang Petrochemical will be shut for an overall maintenance over end-August till end-October.

** Sinopec's Cangzhou Petrochemical will shut the entire refinery for maintenance over May 10-June 30.

** PetroChina's Jilin Petrochemical will shut for maintenance over May-June.

** Sinopec's Maoming Petrochemical will shut a 10 million mt/year CDU for maintenance over early-June till mid-July.

** Sinopec's Shijiazhuang Petrochemical will be shut for an overall maintenance over end-August till end-October.

** Sinopec's Guangzhou Petrochemical will shut a 8 million mt/year CDU for maintenance over mid-October-end November.

Upgrades

Existing entries

** Sinopec's Changling Petrochemical in central Hunan province plans to start construction for its newly approved 1 million mt/year reformer this year and to bring its port upgrading project online by end-December, it said.

** Japan's second-largest refiner, Idemitsu Kosan, plans to start work on raising the residue cracking capacity at its 45,000 b/d FCC as it aims to increase LSFO output. Idemitsu Kosan's upgrade at the Chiba refinery was part of its response to the International Maritime Organization's global low sulfur mandate for marine fuels from January.

** China's Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical expects the start-up of the 2 million mt/year CDU expansion to be delayed to H1 2021, a refinery source said.

** Axens said its Paramax technology has been selected by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. for the petrochemical expansion at the plant. The project aims at increasing the high-purity aromatics production capacity to 3 million mt/year. The new aromatics complex will produce 1.5 million mt/year of paraxylene in a single train, Axens said. The Huizhou petrochemical complex has been operating an Axens Paramax complex since 2009 with 1.3 million mt/year of aromatics production.

** Construction of a new 1 million mt/year coker at Chinese independent refinery Haiyou Petrochemical, in eastern Shandong, has been put on hold, according to sources close to the refinery. The new coker was expected to come on stream in 2019.

** Sinopec's 21 million mt/year Jinling Petrochemical refinery in eastern China will build a new 600,000 mt/year vacuum distillation unit. It has reconfigured its No. 3 gasoline hydrotreater to a 360,000 mt/year hydrotreater to produce RMG 380 CST bunker fuel oil with sulfur content no higher than 0.5%.

** Sinopec's Zhenhai refinery in Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang province, has issued four tenders for preconstruction works of its 1.2 million mt/year ethylene expansion project. The project also include 15 million mt/year of refining capacity.

Launches

Existing entries

** China's private refining and petrochemical complex Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical has started trial run in one of its two 10 million mt/year CDU in the phase 2, and is expected to commission the whole phase 2 (20 million mt/year) in 2021. Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical's phase 3 project is unlikely to launch within the 14th Five Year Plan (2021-2025), market sources and analysts told S&P Global Platts.

** Honeywell said China's Shandong Yulong Petrochemical will use "advanced platforming and aromatics technologies" from Honeywell UOP at its integrated petrochemical complex. The complex will include a UOP naphtha Unionfining unit, CCR Platforming technology to convert naphtha into high-octane gasoline and aromatics, Isomar isomerization technology. When completed Yulong plans to produce 3 million mt/yr of mixed aromatics. Shandong's independent greenfield refining complex -- Yulong Petrochemical -- announced to start construction work at Yulong Island in Yantai city at the end of October, S&P Global Platts has reported previously. The construction work is expected to be completed in 24 months. The complex has been set up with the aim of consolidating the outdated capacities in Shandong province.

According to the preliminary schedule, a total of 10 independent refineries, with a total capacity of 27.5 million mt/year, will be mothballed over the next three years. The 10 refiners would also transfer all of their crude import quotas of 13 million mt/year to the new project in Yantai city, eastern Shandong province. Jinshi Petrochemical, Yuhuang Petrochemical and Zhonghai Fine Chemical are the first three refineries to be dismantled this year. Yuhuang Petrochemical and Zhonghai Fine Chemical have been in the process of dismantling, while Jinshi Asphalt has already finished. Major units to be constructed include two 10 million mt/year crude distillation units, two 1.5 million mt/year ethylene crackers, as well as other related units.

** Saudi Aramco has pulled out from a joint project to build a greenfield 300,000 b/d refining and petrochemical complex in northeast China, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told S&P Global Platts on Aug. 21. Aramco originally signed a deal with China's North Industries Group (Norinco) and Panjin Sincen to form Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co. in February 2019, during a visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Beijing. The JV plans to build a $10 billion integrated refining and petrochemical complex in northeast China's Liaoning province Panjin city with a 1.5 million mt/year ethylene cracker and a 1.3 million mt/year PX unit.

** KBR said it has been awarded a contract for catalyst supply for a vinyl acetate monomer grassroots project at China's Shenghong (Lianyungang) refinery. The 300,000 mt/year unit is a "key intermediate" for the production of polymers and resins for adhesives, coatings, paints, films, textiles and other products. In 2019, the refinery started construction of its 16 million mt/year (320,000 b/d) CDU and 3.1 million mt/year No.1 continuous reformer. Shenghong's refinery will only have one crude distillation unit with a processing capacity of 16 million mt/year, which will become the single largest distillation unit in China. The project is slated for completion in 2021. China's independent Shenghong Group has opened a trading office in Singapore ahead of the start-up in the second half of 2021 of its refinery in Jiangsu province.

** PetroChina officially started construction works at its greenfield 20 million mt/year Guangdong petrochemical refinery in the southern Guangdong province on Dec. 5, 2018. Trial operations at the refining complex are expected to start in October 2021.

** China's coal chemical producer Xuyang Group has announced plans to build a greenfield 15 million mt/year refining and petrochemical complex in Tangshang in central Hebei province.