Some refiners in Europe are going ahead with expansion projects despite a dire medium-term outlook for the sector, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
Some refiners in
Europe
are
going ahead with expansion projects despite a dire medium-term outlook for the
sector, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
"While European refiners in general have been cancelling expansion
projects and are looking to shut capacity, a few projects remain active,"
the energy watchdog for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development said in its monthly oil market report.
These include the recent commissioning of a new crude distillation unit, or
CDU, at Motor Oil Corinth Refineries SA's (MOH.AT)
Corinth
refinery in
Greece
. The
EUR180 million project raises the refinery's CDU capacity by 60,000 barrels a
day. According to the company's website, the refinery's processing capacity has
risen by 25% to over 170,000 barrels a day.
Motor Oil's new CDU could account for a rise in
Greece
's
June refinery runs to 455,000 barrels a day, up 50,000 barrels a day from May.
The IEA also cited the La Rabida refinery in
Huelva
,
Spain
,
operated by Compania Espanola de Petroleos SA (CEP.MC), or Cepsa, as another
project boosting the continent's refining capacity. A new hydrocracker and
crude distillation unit at the plant are currently in the testing phase, the
company said, but it's unclear whether a fatal fire at the plant in early
August will affect the units' startup.
"Further growth could still be to come," the IEA said, because the
refinery's run rates were broadly stable after the fire compared with recent
months.
Finally, the EUR3.2 billion expansion of Spanish energy company Repsol YPF's
(REP)
Cartagena
refinery will double the plant's capacity to 220,000 barrels a day in the
second half of next year, according to the company website. The expansion
project will boost the refinery's upgrading capacity to produce more middle
distillate products like diesel. It includes a new hydrocracker and coker, as
well as desulfurization, atmospheric and vacuum distillation units.
The
Cartagena
refinery investment will make it "one of the most complex refineries in
the region," the IEA said.
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