Formosa Petrochemical restarts Mailiao refinery port and CDU unit
Days after a precautionary closure, Formosa Petrochemical (FPCC) of Taiwan restarted operations at its Mailiao oil refinery after ‘no’ major impact was felt from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the country. The restart of Mailiao oil refinery is expected to normalize the supply of petrochemical products from the island country. The plant was closed as a precaution to prevent damage from the powerful earthquake that rocked the country and caused severe loss of infrastructure, plants, and machinery.
FPCC spokesperson K Y Lin said in a statement that the company has restarted operations at the port at its Mailiao oil refinery. The company also commenced operations at a crude distillation unit (CDU) at Mailiao.
According to Lin, “There was no major impact on the refinery. One CDU tripped due to the earthquake and has already resumed operation. Also, the port was closed as a precautionary measure and has reopened. There will not be any shipping delay due to the earthquake that occurred in Taiwan last week.”
It is worth mentioning here that FPCC operates three each of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude distillation units at its Mailiao refinery, which is located in the Yunlin region in western Taiwan. Nine people died in the powerful earthquake and more than 900 were injured after it hit the island’s remote east coast, away from most of its power and oil infrastructure.
Ship berths
According to reports, fuel vessels are waiting to berth at Mailiao port. Additionally, some ships are scheduled to load jet fuels and gasoil with a sulphur content of 500 parts per million (PPM). Some chemical and clean products tankers are currently berthed at Mailiao port. Taiwan refiners are scheduled to receive Saudi-origin cargoes of crude oil.
Separately, state-owned refiner CPC Corp is understood to have investigated the impact of the earthquake on its refinery and port operations. However, the company did not find any remarkable damage at its production or transportation facilities, either on plant or port operations. Meanwhile, CPC Corp’s Taoyuan refinery is still working on operational safety checks on its facility given its proximity to the earthquake’s epicentre.
Reports said that CPC Corp currently operates a 200,000 bpd oil refinery at Taoyuan in northern Taiwan and a 450,000 bpd refinery at Talin in southwest Taiwan. Refinery operations at CPC’s Talin location remained unaffected. FPCC cumulatively operates a 540,000 bpd refinery at Yunlin refinery in western Taiwan.
Taiwan’s biggest earthquake
The earthquake that hit Taiwan last week was the biggest such occurrence in at least 25 years. At least nine people were killed, and another 900 injured in this powerful quake. In yet another incident, at least 50 workers travelling in minibuses to a hotel in a national park were reported missing with no information on their whereabouts.
Reports said that some buildings were tilted at precarious angles in the mountainous region, which is thinly populated with homes at a distance in Hualien, near the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. The quake triggered massive landslides.
DILIP KUMAR JHA
Editor
dilip.jha@polymerupdate.com