REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: More maintenance planned for Europe

A number of European refiners are planning maintenance in the coming months, but the main focus for the sector is shifting to crude supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden's Preem has ceased imports of Russian crude and replaced them with crude from Norway and the North Sea, and Finland's Neste has "mostly replaced" Russian crude, while Hungary's MOL is monitoring the events in order to take appropriate measures.

Some, like MOL, are looking at alternative supplies via the Adria or JANAF pipeline, while Poland's PKN has already diversified supplies to its Plock refinery away from Russian crude, which represented 98% of its slate in 2013 and is currently less than half. Greece's Hellenic Petroleum said Russian crude accounted for just 15% of its supplies last year and that this could be replaced by similar grades, mostly from the Middle East.

In other news, companies mostly reported improved results in Q4, although 2021 results were impacted for some by last year's maintenance.

** Finland's Neste reported a rise in its oil product sales and production in the fourth quarter over the previous quarter, but the refiner posted a significant fall for the full year, with output dragged down by a major turnaround at the Porvoo refinery in the second quarter.

Reporting Q4 results on Feb. 10, Neste said refinery production came in at 2.960 million mt, up from 2.930 million mt for the same period a year ago and up from the 2.828 million mt recorded for Q3. The utilization rate for the refinery was 93% in the final quarter, up from 86% for the previous corresponding period.

But 2021 full-year throughput came in at just 9.504 million mt, a hefty retrenchment from 12.791 million mt for the previous year. The average utilization rate for the year was just 72% versus 84% for 2020.

** France's TotalEnergies reported overall higher refinery throughput in Q4 but lower at its French refineries. Throughput at its French refineries was down 10% on the year at 223,000 b/d and 21% down compared with pre-pandemic 2019. Overall its throughput in Q4 was up 1% on the year at 1.279 million b/d, but 15% down from 2019. The quarterly increase was "due to demand recovery partially offset by the prolonged shutdown of the Donges refinery for economic reasons," as well as the shutdown of Grandpuits for conversion and the sale of Lindsey in the UK. Throughput in 2021 was 22% down at its French refineries versus 2020 at 190,000 b/d. Throughput at all its refineries was 1.180 million b/d in January-December, down 9% on the year. The drop was attributed to the shutdown of the French refineries as well as the major planned turnaround at Leuna in Q2 2021.

** Turkish refiner Tupras' output in 2021 totaled 25.1 million mt, up 7.3% from 23.5 million mt in 2020. Capacity utilization for Q4 was reported as 98%, up from the 96% reported in Q3 and the 84% reported in Q4 2020. In its expectations for 2022, Tupras said it anticipates production at its four refineries of between 26 million-27 million mt, at a capacity utilization of 90%-95%, and total sales of 28 million-29 million mt.

** Repsol's Spanish refineries reported crude throughput of 8.6 million mt in the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 4% year on year, driven by wider margins and increased utilization in both distilling and conversion, it said. For the full year, throughput was 34 million mt, or 60% of Spain's total, up 3% year on year.

** Italian energy group Eni said that throughput at its Italian refineries in the fourth quarter rose 5% year on year to 4.13 million mt. In the rest of the world, it achieved 14% higher throughput at 2.83 million mt.

In 2021 throughput at its Italian refineries rose 11% to 16.51 million mt, while in the rest of the world it achieved 20% higher throughput at 10.88 million mt. The higher throughput in Italy was attributed to the "lower impact" of the pandemic, but was "partly offset by the impact of a depressed refining scenario." The company reported 76% average utilization at all its refineries in the fourth quarter, up from 74% in Q4 2020, and 76% in 2021, up from 69%.

** Greek refiner Hellenic said that its three refineries ran at a 105% utilization rate in the fourth quarter, up from 86% of capacity in Q4 2020. Throughput at the Aspropyrgos refinery totaled 1.968 million mt in Q4, while Elefsina processed 1.285 million mt and Thessaloniki 875,000 mt. Utilization at its refineries was "at the highest levels" since the start of Covid-19, due to increased refining availability and demand uptake. The big increase in energy costs is "having a severe impact on operating cost for European refiners", with Hellenic somewhat offsetting that impact by substituting natural gas with oil products.

** Refinery operator Galp said Feb. 21 it expects refinery throughput of around 90 million barrels of oil equivalent (around 246,600 b/d) at its Sines plant in 2022, meaning the refinery will operate above its nameplate capacity of 226,000 b/d. The figure represents a 17% increase in production from 76.6 million boe processed in 2021, which was impacted by an unplanned outage in the fourth quarter.

** In Q4 2021, Hungary MOL's refinery throughput was 5% higher year on year at 4.17 million mt, an increase MOL said was driven by increasing fuel demand across Central and Eastern Europe.

** Italy's Augusta refinery has reported positive result in 2021 following negative results in 2019 and 2020, which enabled it to pay off some of its borrowing, according to local media reports citing Sonatrach's official.

The refinery's 2020 results have been impacted by the global demand slump whereas in 2019 the refinery was offline for a prolonged period due to a maintenance. Sonatrach bought the refinery in 2018 from ExxonMobil.

** The average run rate for Italian refineries in the first 11 months of 2021 was 72.8% of the full 87.25 million mt/year capacity, according to data released by industry group Unione Energie per la Mobilita, or Unem. The run rate gained from 72% in the first 10 months and 70.8% in the first nine months.

** Italy's demand for refined oil products totaled 4.2 million mt in January, gaining 10.1% compared to the same month in 2021, according to Unem data released Feb. 23. Compared to January 2020, prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, oil product demand was down by 11% in January, the association said.

** Spanish crude oil throughput remained more than 10% below pre-pandemic levels in 2021, as overall volume rose 3% year on year to 56.9 million mt, data by Spanish reserve Corporation CORES showed. Throughput in 2021 was down 13% compared to 2019's full-year volume and 11% below the average of the previous five years, the data showed, as demand recovered partway from coronavirus-related economic restrictions which were strictest in 2020.

** French road fuel deliveries totaled 3.632 billion liters in January, up 7.1% year on year but down 9.5% compared with pre-COVID January 2020, according to industry group UFIP, citing data from the country's oil industry committee CPDP.

** Separately, Germany's Gelsenkirchen refinery plans major works at the Scholven Olefin 4 plant. The works are scheduled for August and September 2022. The Olefin 4 plant produces ethylene and propylene as well as butadiene for further processing into polyethylene and polypropylene.

** The petrochemical part of France's Feyzin will be halting for maintenance, according to local media report. The maintenance will start on March 23 and will last two months, until around May 26. The steam cracker was halted briefly in mid-February due to an incident, S&P Global Platts has reported previously.

** Germany's economy ministry has started an investigation into Rosneft expanding its ownership of the Schwedt refinery after the Germany's anti-monopoly service had cleared the purchase by Rosneft of more shares, according to media reports. As a result of the purchase, Rosneft's share would rise to 91.67% from 54.17%.

** PKN Orlen's planned takeover of its smaller rival, Grupa Lotos, could be completed by the middle of this year, Krzysztof Nowicki, Lotos' deputy CEO responsible for mergers and acquisitions said. Nowicki said the refiners are waiting for the European Commission to approve the sale of Lotos assets to Saudi Aramco and Hungary's MOL to allow the merger to go ahead. "We expect to obtain a final approval soon, within two to three months," Nowicki said in comments to the Polish daily Parkiet, published by Lotos on Feb. 24.

Meanwhile, permanent closures remain in the spotlight.

** The government of the Canary Islands has authorized the start of work on the first phase of the removal of units at the Cepsa refinery in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The refinery has been out of operation since 2014. Dismantling and decontamination work was expected to be carried out in phases until 2025. The land could be transformed into urban green areas. Cepsa plans to transfer bunkering and storage operations to the nearby Granadilla site.

** Shell plans to end crude processing at the Wesseling site within the Rhineland refining complex in 2025 as the facilities are repurposed for non-fossil fuel feedstocks and renewable hydrogen production. Shell outlined plans for the facility to take a variety of new biogenic and waste feedstocks, underlining that no final investment decision had yet been taken, and crude processing would still take place at the adjoining Godorf site. The Wesseling portion of the Rhineland refinery accounts for half the overall refining capacity, or 8 million mt/year.

** The Livorno refinery in northwest Italy will stop refining crude and suspend all related activities by the end of 2022. The production of lubricants and ancillary activities will continue for the foreseeable future. In January, Eni said it was evaluating the conversion of Livorno into a biorefinery.

NEW AND ONGOING MAINTENANCE

FUTURE MAINTENANCE

Near-term maintenance

New and revised maintenance

** Operations at API's refinery in the Italian coastal town of Falconara Marittima have been little affected by a fire Feb. 24 which was extinguished in 20 minutes, according to sources close to the refinery. The thermal cracking plant, where the fire occurred, has been halted, with the extent of the damage being assessed. It appeared that there was a minor electrical circuit damage, the source said. The refinery was taken offline in January for upgrades and maintenance, but was fully operational again by early February.

** TotalEnergies' Antwerp refinery is due to carry out maintenance this spring, according to traders. The works will most likely take place in April.

The company was not immediately available to comment.

** ExxonMobil, operator of France's Port Jerome-Gravenchon refinery, said Feb. 24 that flaring is possible at the facility during a process of successive closure of units for maintenance that started Feb. 23. It added that flaring and some noise could last for around a week while the units are halted.

** Turkey's Tupras reported an extensive maintenance schedule for 2022. For its Izmit refinery, periodic maintenance of the isomerization unit lasting five weeks was reported to be ongoing. Periodic maintenance of the vacuum and desulfurizer units were reported as planned for Q1, each lasting three weeks, with periodic maintenance of the crude oil and vacuum unit and the HYC unit both planned for the end of Q3 and both lasting six weeks.

For its Izmir refinery, periodic maintenance of the vacuum unit and lubes complex were reported as ongoing during Q1, both lasting six weeks. The company said that in Q4 at Izmir it plans to revamp the crude unit, CCR & isomerization unit and desulfurizer -- all lasting nine weeks -- and the HYC unit, expected to last four weeks.

Seasonal maintenance of the crude oil and vacuum unit at Tupras' Batman plant was reported as ongoing for 13 weeks during Q1 with further work on the same unit planned for four weeks in Q4.

** Germany's Heide is planning partial works from Feb. 28 to March 25. Only some units will be affected. From the beginning of March the affected production facilities will be cleaned and inspected and if necessary repaired.

The refinery was fully back online Feb. 16 after a power failure on Feb. 6. The power plant was back in operation Feb. 9 when units also were gradually restarting.

** Spain's Bilbao halted the larger crude distillation unit 2 in mid February. The refinery will be running at 50% capacity for a turnaround that will last until April 5. During the halt, work will be carried out on the coker as well as other units in the conversion area of the refinery. The refinery halted its AK3 alkylation unit Feb. 17 and its vacuum unit V3 Feb. 18 as part of the turnaround.

** In the second half of 2022, Repsol will carry out a smaller turnaround at its Tarragona refinery, which will involve the isomax and hydrocracker units.

** Greece's Hellenic Petroleum plans full turnaround at its Elefsina refinery in the first half of 2022. The maintenance at Elefsina was brought forward by an incident at the end of January, when the whole refinery was halted and the maintenance started, Hellenic said. The works will last until the end of March for half of the refinery and the flexicoker will start a few weeks later. Traders had reported that the incident occurred at the coker.

** Greece's Hellenic Petroleum plans full turnaround at Thessaloniki in the second half of the year. The maintenance at Thessaloniki will last between six and eight weeks.

** MOL will schedule the bulk of its 2022 maintenance activities in the first half of the year, including works at MOL Petrochemicals, as well as at the distillation and conversion units of its Danube and Slovnaft refineries.

** A new railway to bypass France's Donges refinery, meaning other rail traffic will not have to pass through the site, will start operations in October, according to a local media report. Work on the railway, which has been a condition for modernizing the refinery, started in 2020. The French government, local authorities, railway operator SNCF and TotalEnergies signed a memorandum of intent in 2016 to build the railway bypassing the Donges refinery. TotalEnergies has said previously that following the bypass agreement, it would proceed with the planned upgrade. The bypass was due to be ready in 2022. Meanwhile Donges is expected to restart in March following an economic shutdown and maintenance, according to a union source. During the maintenance, which started in late November, Donges is also building a new desulfurization unit, it said Dec. 2. TotalEnergies halted operations at Donges on Nov. 30, 2020 due to weak margins.

** OMV plans a general maintenance at the Burghausen refinery between June 22-Aug. 7. It has previously said the turnaround would be in Q3. The turnaround will include also the Borealis polyolefin production site. The last turnaround took place in 2014, followed by a partial shutdown of the refinery in May 2018. "In order to continue to ensure safe, environmentally friendly operation and the efficiency of the plants, all plants will be shut down during the turnaround, cleaned and inspected," the company said. In addition, expansion work will be carried out to increase ethylene and propylene production. The turnaround will be used to expand and modernize the steam cracker and subsequently increase the capacities for ethylene and propylene production, S&P Global Platts has reported previously. The expansion is expected to facilitate increased annual ethylene and propylene production by around 50,000 mt/year.

** Poland's second largest refiner Grupa Lotos said that it will commence the shutdown of refinery units for maintenance at its Gdansk refinery on March 9. The partial turnaround will last between Mar. 23-Apr. 1. The first part of the maintenance took place last year, between February and May. 50 out of over 65 units will be shut for maintenance this spring and their gradual restart is scheduled to be completed on Apr. 16. The last stage of the project will involve maintenance of the hydrogen generation unit between Apr. 17 and May 14. Lotos said it estimates that "the maximum throughput reduction attributable directly to the shutdown will be approximately 7% on an annual basis, but it is taking operational measures to minimize it."

** Germany's Ingolstadt refinery is currently undergoing maintenance set to last around three weeks, according to market sources. The company was not available to comment.

Existing entries

** OMV said that a turnaround is planned at Schwechat in Q2.

** Lithuania's Orlen Lietuva plans to suspend operations for a major maintenance in May. The works will last from May 22 to June 14.

** Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam -- formerly known as the Pernis refinery -- which will undergo major maintenance between end January-end June, will ensure continuity of the plant's operations during the works so that while one installation is shut down, another will continue production, the company said Jan. 20. Therefore no total shutdown will be involved, and the refinery will stock "enough product to ensure continuity of supply for the time an installation is down for maintenance." The maintenance aims to further improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of the refinery's installations as well as to carry out "legally required inspections and repairs," the refinery also said.

** Croatia's Rijeka refinery continues with its maintenance, according to market sources and media reports. The company declined to comment. It has said previously that the refinery started at the end of October a planned temporary shutdown for a catalyst replacement. The maintenance was to be used for works on other units. According to media reports it involves also modification of the hydrodesulfurization reactor at the hydrocracker.

** Italy's Sannazzaro de Burgondi refinery, which was taken partially offline for large-scale maintenance works in July this year, will remain offline for the whole of next year, a source close to the refinery told S&P Global Platts. Earlier this year union sources said maintenance was being carried out on the plant's slurry technology (EST) unit, which was taken offline following a fire in 2016, as well as on the refinery's hydrocracking unit, the visbreaking plant and the gas depuration unit, among others. Eni's EST plant had originally been scheduled to restart last year but was kept offline amid the nationwide slump in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

** Israel's Bazan has delayed scheduled maintenance of the FCC at Haifa from Q2 2021 to the first half of 2022 when there will be also maintenance at all the Carmel Olefin facilities. Bazan will carry out maintenance of the FCC alongside maintenance at all the Carmel Olefin facilities in the first quarter of 2022.

** Romania's Petrobrazi will undergo its next big turnaround in 2022.

Future

Existing entries

** Gunvor Group said that its Ingolstadt refinery in Germany will undertake projects focused on heating systems and exchangers "to continue improving its energy efficiency and reduce its emissions." A planned turnaround in 2023 will allow additional reductions, by carrying out projects on the FCC.

** Czech Unipetrol said that following the turnaround at its Litvinov plant in Q2'20 the refinery has prepared production for a new four-year cycle. Thus, the next turnaround is due in 2024.

** Two months of maintenance at the Sarpom refinery in Trecate, Italy, originally scheduled for October 2019 have been pushed back. Details on which units at the refinery will be upgraded as part of the maintenance -- of the kind needed every 3-4 years -- had yet to emerge.

** The Holborn refinery near Hamburg, northern Germany, plans its next turnaround in 2023. Its previous maintenance was in the autumn of 2018. The refinery carries out major works every five years.

** With its 2020 maintenance, Romania's Petromidia and the petrochemical division "will align with the new operating strategy, with a general turnaround scheduled for four years and technological shutdowns scheduled for two years," the company said.

** Total's Feyzin is considering mothballing a visbreaker unit as demand for heavy fuel is gradually declining and the unit works on average no more than three days a month.