Shell 'shuts Singapore refinery unit due to technical faults'

Straits Times 8 Sep 08;

ROYAL Dutch Shell shut down its 115,000 to 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) No. 4 crude distillation unit (CDU) in Singapore on Friday due to technical problems, a source at the refinery said.

'It would take about a week or so to fix the problem,' the source told Reuters on Saturday.

Shell's Bukom refining complex has a total capacity of 500,000 bpd, and has two other CDUs which are running at around a 90 per cent rate.

The No. 4 CDU, the complex's second-largest, was running at reduced rates of 70 to 80 per cent, or 90,000 bpd, since its restart from maintenance last month, in part due to weak margins, a refinery source had said earlier this week.

It normally runs at a 90 per cent rate of around 105,000 to 110,000 bpd, the source had said.

A Shell spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. The refiner does not normally comment on operational matters.

Last month, some oil refiners in Asia cut or were planning to cut crude processing rates, following similar moves by Western peers, as high fuel prices hit demand and pressured margins.

The margins have only started to recover recently as crude prices eased, with the five-day average for complex margins in the Singapore refining centre standing at US$6.67 a barrel versus US$4.92 in the last 15 days. The August average was US$4.06 a barrel, the lowest monthly average seen so far this year, compared with April's US$10.13, the highest so far this year.

REUTERS