Neste Corp. will begin a 2-month planned maintenance turnaround starting in mid-August at its 3 million-tonne/year refinery in Naantali, Finland, that, once executed, will complete the company’s previously announced investment plan to integrate operations of its two Finnish refineries under uniform management (OGJ Online, Mar. 2, 2017).
The major turnaround—the most extensive ever carried out at the refinery and its first since 2012—will cost a total of €90-million, the sum of which consists of routine-turnaround investments, associated maintenance investments, and the value of lost production during the shutdown period, Neste said.
The scheduled maintenance follows more than 700 days of work related to the change of the refinery’s production structure already completed during normal operations at the site.
First announced in October 2014, Neste’s €500-million project to integrate the Naantali refinery with its 10.5 million-tpy Porvoo refinery into a single Finnish refining system comes as part of the company’s plan to improve the competitiveness of its overall refining operations (OGJ Online, Mar. 23, 2015; Oct. 7, 2014).
Following its reconfiguration, the Naantali will continue to produce diesel and specialty products, including solvents and bitumen, and maintain an important role in producing feedstocks, such as vacuum gas oil, for production lines in Porvoo.
Additionally, gasoline components produced at Naantali will be refined into finished products at Porvoo, with Naantali’s terminal capacity to be used for distributing Porvoo’s gasoline production.
Consolidation of the two Finnish refineries also will enable Neste to increase diesel output alongside a simultaneous reduction in heavy fuel oil production from the integrated unit.
Matti Lehmus, Neste’s executive vice-president of oil products, said the company is targeting an additional margin of at least $5.50/bbl once the new Naantali-Porvoo operating model becomes operational.
The overall refinery consolidation program is scheduled to be completed and the new operating model fully commissioned following the Naantali turnaround.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
