China's state-owned refiners planned to raise crude runs in October to 84% of nameplate capacity, up from 83% in September, a Platts monthly survey showed Friday.
The survey covered 12 Sinopec refineries, 11 PetroChina refineries and CNOOC's Huizhou refinery, with a combined processing capacity of around 250 million mt/year, or 5.02 million b/d.
The 24 surveyed refineries were expected to process 17.92 million mt of crude oil in October, or 4.24 million b/d, accounting for around 84% of their nameplate capacity.
In comparison, 28 state-owned refineries surveyed last month planned to process 18.75 million mt of crude in September, which was around 83% of their total capacity.
SINOPEC TO OPERATE AT 84% OF CAPACITY, UP FROM 80% IN SEPTEMBER
Sinopec's 12 surveyed refineries were expected to process a total of 9.68 million mt of crude in October, or operate at 84% of their combined nameplate capacity, up four percentage points from 80% in September, according to the survey.
Market sources attributed the rise in crude runs at Sinopec to the restart of one of its major refineries after scheduled maintenance.
Sinopec's 15.5 million/year Tianjin Petrochemical refinery in north China resumed operation after a scheduled maintenance early October. The refinery planned to process 950,000 mt of crude oil in October, accounting for 72% of its nameplate processing capacity. Sinopec shut the Tianjin refinery for one and half months scheduled maintenance mid-August, Platts reported earlier.
But many other Sinopec's refineries cut their run rates this month due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.
Sinopec's 11.5 million/year Qilu Petrochemical refinery in east China shut its 8 million mt/year crude distillation unit and 1.4 million mt/year coking unit for a scheduled maintenance October 8. As a result, the volume of crude processed at the refinery will drop to 600,000 mt in October, from 860,000 mt in September. The refinery planned to restart the units November 2, Platts reported earlier.
Meanwhile, Sinopec's 11.5 million/year Changling Petrochemical refinery in central China also planned to shut its 8 million mt/year CDU and some downstream units for a month scheduled maintenance starting October 23. As a result, the refinery's crude run is expected to drop to 59% this month, compared with 66% in September.
Separately, Sinopec's 13.2 million mt/year Guangzhou Petrochemical refinery in south China planned to process 800,000 mt of crude in October, accounting for 71% of its capacity, down from 1.03 million mt, or 96%, in September. The refinery shut its 5 million mt/year No. 1 CDU for unscheduled maintenance October 8, due to environmental problems. But the unit is expected to be restarted early next week, said a source with the refinery.
PETROCHINA, CNOOC LOWER RUN RATES IN OCTOBER
PetroChina's 11 surveyed refineries planned to process 7.2 million mt of crude this month, or operate at 84% of nameplate capacity, down four percentage points from 88% in September, the survey showed.
PetroChina's Fushun Petrochemical refinery in northeast China planned to process 840,000 mt of crude oil in October, up from 615,000 mt in September. But the refinery has increased its nameplate processing capacity to 11 million mt/year from 8 million mt/year, by adding a new 3 million mt/year CDU in late September, a source with the refinery said, adding that this took the refinery's run rate lower to 90% in October, compared with 94% last month.
In addition, PetroChina's 7 million mt/year Jinxi Petrochemical refinery, and 5.5 million mt/year Daqing Refining and Petrochemical refinery in the same region also planned to lower their crude runs to 70% and 105% for October, respectively, compared with 79% and 110% in September, the survey said.
Besides, the 10 million mt/year Dalian West Pacific Petrochemical refinery, or Wepec, a venture between PetroChina, Sinochem and Total, planned to cut crude runs further to 68% for October, down from 73% in September. The refinery planned to process around 575,000 mt of crude in October.
CNOOC's 12 million mt/year Huizhou refinery planned to process 1 million mt of crude oil in October, accounting for 98% of its nameplate processing capacity, down by two percentage points from 100% in September, the survey showed.
