Midcon refiners approach peak maintenance

摘要

US refinery crude unit maintenance will peak next month in the midcontinent, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The energy statistics service expects planned work to take 551,000 b/d — or 14pc of regional capacity — off line for seasonal maintenance, according to a biannual report on planned work. The drop represents a near 10-year high for the region’s crude unit maintenance levels. Work on reformers, a downstream unit that produces higher-octane gasoline blendstocks, will also ramp up next month to 13pc of the region’s capacity, potentially tightening octane supply, according to the EIA.