Australia's Viva to shut some Geelong refinery units

Australian refiner and marketer Viva Energy has started preparations to shut the residual catalytic cracker (RFCC) and associated processing units at its 128,000 b/d Geelong refinery in Victoria from early May.

Work is also planned on the smaller crude distillation unit (CDU) at the plant, although the refinery's main CDU and all other processing units will continue to operate.

Viva expects refining intake to be reduced to about 2.5mn bl/month (81,000) b/d, subject to normal refining optimisation decisions. This would be a 31pc decline from the average crude intake of 117,000 b/d in January-March and 32pc below the 2019 average of 120,000 b/d.

Geelong has reduced run rates over the last month because of lower fuel demand amid the Covid-19 outbreak, Viva said, without giving details.

Viva does not expect any disruption to fuel supply. The financial impact is likely to be immaterial, after taking into account the cost efficiencies that would flow from not operating the units, it said.

The company is reviewing plans for a major maintenance turnaround of the RFCC and associated units that is currently scheduled from late August to October. It expects to announce the outcome of its review before the end of June. The preparations to shut down the RFCC do not affect this review, it said.

Australia is facing a significant decline in demand for transportation fuels due to the impact of Covid-19, which has particularly hit [jet fuel demand] (https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2089817).

By Kevin Morrison

source: Argus Media