Atyrau oil refinery begins scheduled maintenance
The Atyrau Oil Refinery began scheduled preventive maintenance on June 26 under the timetable approved by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy and in accordance with national regulations, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The maintenance is aimed at ensuring equipment reliability, maintaining stable technological processes and improving overall production efficiency.
KazMunayGas said the maintenance program includes mandatory inspections of 20 reactors, 213 storage tanks, 32 columns and 231 heat exchangers, as well as the replacement of selected pipeline sections. In addition, more than 335 tons of catalysts will be replaced at several processing units.
The refinery will also replace the internals of the vacuum column at the ELOU-AVT-3 crude distillation unit to boost the production of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Equipment cleaning will be carried out through a closed drainage system to reduce atmospheric emissions.
The maintenance work involves around 1,685 specialists and 53 units of specialized equipment. Occupational, industrial and fire safety will remain top priorities throughout the process.
KazMunayGas said previously accumulated fuel reserves would ensure uninterrupted supplies to the domestic market during the maintenance period.
The refinery entered the maintenance period with reserves of 38,000 tons of gasoline, 31,300 tons of diesel fuel, and 6,800 tons of jet fuel. According to KazMunayGas, the domestic fuel market remains stable, with AI-92 gasoline and diesel fuel stocks sufficient to meet 34 and 32 days of demand, respectively.
The phased restart of the refinery's processing units is scheduled to begin on July 10.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan may begin importing fuel from China.