China's 23 state-owned refineries plan to operate at an average 75% of capacity in November, processing a total 16.42 million mt, or 4.01 million b/d, of crude, according to a Platts monthly survey.
The survey this month covered 13 Sinopec refineries, nine PetroChina refineries and CNOOC's Huizhou refinery, which have a combined processing capacity of 268 million mt/year (5.38 million b/d).
In October, the 24 refineries surveyed planned to process a total 17.87 million mt of crude, or 4.23 million b/d of crude which was equivalent to around 78% of their combined nameplate capacity of 269 million mt/year (5.41 million b/d).
The run rate in November this year was also 13 percentage points lower than the 88% recorded during the same period in 2012.
The more than 50 refineries owned by Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC had a total crude distillation capacity of 8.7 million b/d as of end 2012, accounting for roughly 70% of China's total refining capacity.
SINOPEC'S NOV RUNS SLUMP TO 69%, FROM 77% IN OCT
The lower average run rate in November was mainly due to a heavy maintenance schedule at Sinopec's major refineries.
The 13 Sinopec refineries surveyed this month plan to process 2.25 million b/d of crude in November, or 9.22 million mt, accounting for 69% of their combined nameplate capacity, and down eight percentage points from 77% in October.
Sinopec's 12 million mt/year Fujian Refining and Chemical refinery in the southeast Fujian province has been undergoing a scheduled full turnaround since around October 18, and will be shut throughout November. As a result, the refinery will not process any crude in November, compared to running at 44% of its capacity in October. The turnaround is expected to last two months.
Meanwhile, the 23.5 million mt/year Maoming refinery in southern Guangdong province has also been completely shut over October 11-November 16. The refinery was initially scheduled to restart on November 23, but it returned online on November 17. As a result, the plant will process 420,000-430,000 mt of crude in November -- compared with an earlier planned 390,000 mt -- equivalent to about 22% of its nameplate capacity, compared with 35% in October.
Meanwhile, a blast on November 22 at Sinopec's Donghuang crude oil pipeline in the eastern Shandong province has resulted in an unexpected reduction of runs at two of its refineries.
The 7 million mt/year Jinan refinery, one of the end-users of the crude carried through the pipeline, was said to have cut its throughput by around 68% from 114,837 b/d to 36,650 b/d after the pipeline was shut on November 22. It had previously planned to run at 82% of its capacity, processing 470,000 mt of crude in November, but has now lowered runs to an average 71% this month, processing around 406,000 mt of crude.
Similarly, runs at Sinopec's 11.5 million mt/year Qilu refinery in Qingdao were also reduced by a third from the planned 131,940 b/d to 87,960 b/d due to the pipeline blast. As a result, the refinery will process about 504,000 mt of crude, operating at 53%, instead of an earlier planned 57%. PETROCHINA HIKES RUNS TO 82% IN NOV, FROM 78% IN OCT
The decrease in Sinopec's average run rates was partly offset by the higher throughput at the nine PetroChina refineries polled this month. The nine plants plan to process 1.51 million b/d of crude in November, or 6.20 million mt, accounting for 82% of their nameplate capacity.
This compares with a throughput of 1.28 million b/d, or an average run rate of 78%, at the nine PetroChina refineries polled for October.
The highest increase in runs comes from PetroChina?s 7 million mt/year Jinxi Petrochemical refinery in the northeast Liaoning province. The company plans to raise its run rate from 17% of capacity in October to 43%, and process 250,000 mt of crude in November. The refinery resumed operations in late October after a full maintenance starting from September 1.
