The 76K-b/d RFCCU and 370K-mt/y(8.6K-b/d)MTBE unit at the South Korean refiner's 580K-b/d Onsan facility were unexpectedly shut down on March 22.S-Oil initially planned to have restarted the units on April 6,but technical issues have resulted in an extension of the closure into the first half of May.Both of the units were expected to undergo maintenance in May-June,but that work was moved forward in light of the shutdown.LG Chem recently had a 230K-mt/y(5.4K-b/d)MTBE unit down for a turnaround,further tightening the South Korean MTBE market.Supplies of both gasoline and MTBE were also stretched thin due to the unexpected closure of the 200K-b/d Nghi Son refinery in Vietnam,which pulled MTBE-additized gasoline export cargoes away from South Korea.
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