China's state-owned refiners plan to run their refineries at around 81% of capacity in June, a rise of three percentage points from 78% in May, Platts monthly survey showed Monday.
The survey this month covered 11 Sinopec refineries, seven PetroChina refineries and CNOOC's Huizhou refinery, which have a combined processing capacity of 217 million mt/year (4.36 million b/d).
The 19 refineries polled plan to process 3.51 million b/d of crude in June, or a total 14.39 million mt, accounting for about 81% of their nameplate capacity.
In comparison, the 25 refineries surveyed in April had planned to process 4.31 million b/d of crude last month, or 18.21 million mt, which was also around 78% of their total capacity.
SINOPEC LIFTS CRUDE RUNS IN JUNE
The 11 Sinopec refineries surveyed this month plan to process 2.18 million b/d of crude in June, or a total 8.93 million mt, accounting for 82% of their 2.67 million b/d combined nameplate capacity.
This was a gain of four percentage points from the company's average runs of 78% in May as some Sinopec refineries plan to raise their crude runs in June after completing turnarounds.
Sinopec's 14 million/year Yanshan Petrochemical refinery in northern China plans to process 215,013 b/d of crude this month, or 880,000 mt, accounting for 76% of its nameplate capacity. This is up by 27 percentage points from 49% in April. The refinery restarted a 3 million mt/year CDU on May 31 after a scheduled maintenance that started April 20.
Sinopec's 7 million mt/year Jinan refinery in east China's Shandong province lifts its run rate from 50% in May to 70% in June to process 400,000 mt of crude oil, or 97,733 b/d. Sinopec is increasing throughput gradually although all units resumed operation in mid-May after maintenance, said a source at the refinery.
Meanwhile, an 8 million mt/year (160,658 b/d) crude distillation unit and other downstream units restarted at Sinopec's 13.20 million mt Guangzhou refinery in Guangdong province on Thursday. The CDU was shut on May 1 for scheduled maintenance. As a result, the refinery plans to process 580,000 mt (141,713 b/d) of crude in June, accounting for 53% of its nameplate processing capacity, up from 38% in May.
Sinopec's 8.5 million mt/year Wuhan Petrochemical refinery in central China is increasing throughput by 12 percentage points from last month to 76% in June to process 129,497 b/d of crude, or 530,000 mt. The refinery starts its newly built 1.80 million mt/year hydrocracker and restarts an idle 3.50 million mt/year CDU to support the higher run rate.
In addition, Sinopec's 11.3 million mt/year Gaoqiao Petrochemical and 23 million mt/year Zhenhai Refining and Chemical in East China plans to raise their run rates by three and four percentage points, respectively, this month.
Only the 8 million mt/year Hainan refinery as well as the 23.5 million mt/year Maoming Petrochemical refinery in South China, and 3.5 million mt/year Cangzhou refinery in North China reported decreases of between one and six percentage in run rates this month.
PETROCHINA RAISES RUNS SLIGHTLY IN JUNE
The seven PetroChina refineries polled this month plan to process 1.09 million b/d of crude, or a total 4.46 million mt, accounting for 75% of their nameplate capacity. This is up slightly from the company's average runs of 74% in May.
The increase was driven by PetroChina's 7.5 million mt/year Jinzhou refinery, which plans to resume an 1 million mt/year FCC on Tuesday after a month of scheduled maintenance starting May 25. The plant's crude throughput is expected to rise to 122,167 b/d, or 500,000 mt, in June, equivalent to 81% of its nameplate capacity. This is up from 77% in May.
Meanwhile, five of the surveyed PetroChina refineries plan to lift their run rates by between one and three percentage points this month. The refineries were the 20.5 million mt/year Dalian refinery, the 11 million mt/year Fushun Petrochemical refinery, the 5.5 million mt/year Daqing Refining and Petrochemical, the 7 million mt/year Jinxi Petrochemical refinery all of them are in Northeastern China and the 10.5 million mt/year Lanzhou Petrochemical refinery in northwest China.
However, West Pacific Petrochemical, or Wepec, a venture between PetroChina, Sinochem and Total, plans to shut its sole refinery, located in Dalian, on June 17 for a 25-day turnaround. As a result of the shutdown, the refinery will only process about 300,000 mt of crude oil in June, or 73,300 b/d, accounting for 37% of its nameplate capacity. This compares with average runs of 73% in May.
CNOOC's 12 million mt/year Huizhou refinery plans to process 236,452 b/d of crude this month, or 10 million mt, accounting for 101% of its nameplate processing capacity. This is slightly down from average runs of 102% in May.
