CPC Shuts Two Units at Kaohsiung Refinery After Blast

CPC Corp., Taiwan's state-owned oil refiner, said it shut two units at its Kaohsiung refinery in southern Taiwan after a blast on Jan. 5.

The company expects to restart the vacuum gasoil unit and the fluid catalytic cracker in May, Jessica Tang, a spokeswoman at Taipei-based CPC, said by telephone today. Each of the units can process 25,000 barrels of fuel a day, Tang said. A gas leak triggered an explosion at the gasoil unit.

CPC's three refineries - Kaohsiung and Talin in Kaohsiung City and Taoyuan - have a combined capacity of 720,000 barrels of crude oil a day. A fluid catalytic cracker produces gasoline while a vacuum gasoil unit provides raw material for the cracker.

"Our gasoline supply to customers won't be affected, as we will increase production at Taoyuan and Talin," Tang said today. CPC will carry out planned maintenance at the two units after repairing the damage caused by the explosion, she said.

CPC's No. 6 crude distillation unit at the Kaohsiung refinery remains closed as the company awaits permission from the city government to resume production, Tang said. The 100,000 barrels-a-day facility has been shut since Oct. 26, when a pump leak caused a fire.

The distillation unit is the main part of a refinery that heats crude oil to separate it into different products.

CPC is "in no rush" to restart the crude unit because of the closure of the gasoil and gasoline units, Tang said. "We don't have enough capacity to process the products from the distillation unit."