All production units were put back into operation at UNIPETROL's subsidiary UNIPETROL RPA after the planned shutdown. The ethylene unit has resumed operation without its PA 701 heat exchange apparatus (the so-called cold box) and its operation will be limited to 70 to 80 per cent of its total capacity before the unit is repaired.
Simultaneously with the shutdown at Unipetrol RPA there was also a shutdown in the Litvínov part of Ceská rafinérská. Subsequent to the resumption of hydrogen supplies from the POX unit Ceská rafinérská could begin, in the last few days, a gradual start-up of the hydrocrack unit (cracking unit), the commissioning of which after the modernisation and capacity increase is planned for Tuesday 13 November.
The start-up of the hydrocrack unit will have a favourable effect on diesel production. Ceská rafinérská's Kralupy refinery was in operation throughout the shutdown.
The purposes of this largest ever planned shutdown in Unipetrol RPA included regular maintenance, process equipment modernisation, and production capacity increase. Maintenance, operating, and capital investment work worth more than CZK 1.5 billion and involving more than 2,900 employees of supplier companies was carried out during the shutdown.
In the past shutdowns in the UNIPETROL Group's companies took place once a year, later once every two and still later every three years. In 2005 the decision was made to introduce a four-year shutdown periodicity, which is more favourable for both producers and customers (at Ceská rafinérská, this year's shutdown was the second shutdown after a four-year interval). The next shutdown is therefore planned for 2011.
UNIPETROL, a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest downstream oil company in Central Europe. UNIPETROL primarily focuses on crude oil processing, fuels distribution and petrochemical production.
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