Spain's integrated Repsol has restarted a crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 120,000 b/d Coruna refinery in northwest Spain after nearly three months offline, while a larger CDU along the coast in Bilbao was taken offline on 26 July.
The affected unit in Bilbao is the larger of the two CDUs Repsol operates at the 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery near the city and has nameplate capacity of about 130,000 b/d. It was shut on 26 July when a fire broke out in the vicinity of the unit and was quickly extinguished.
A source with knowledge of the situation at the refinery in Bilbao said they expect the unit to be shut for "days".
The larger of the two CDUs at Coruna that has recently restarted had been offline since a fire broke out at the unit on 20 April when the refinery was completing planned maintenance on its hydrotreatment and coking units. It was offline until July and deliveries to the refinery were sharply lower in May and June, according to Argus Tracking.
