Saudi firm Petro Rabigh halts refinery operations after power, steam outage
By SUMMER SAID
Saudi Arabia's Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co., or Petro Rabigh, said a sudden cut in power and steam supplies Wednesday halted operations at its refinery.
The interruption from the provider Rabigh Arabian Water and Electricity Co., or RAWEC, did not cause any human causalties or damage, it said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website Thursday.
Rabigh said it is currently working with RAWEC on the reconnection of power and steam supplies in order to restart production at its refinery, but did not say when operations might resume.
The company, which earlier this year shut its refinery for 20 days for maintenance after it suffered a power cut, is also assessing the operational and financial impact of the interruption, it added.
Rabigh utilizes 400,000 bpd of crude oil and 1.2 million tpy of ethane as primary feedstock to produce several refined petroleum products and petrochemical products.
The refinery has mainly been producing 8 million tons of heavy oil, 5.3 million tons of light oil, 3 million tons of naphtha and 2.6 million tons of kerosene each year.
State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical each hold a 37.5% stake in Petro Rabigh, with the remaining 25% owned by the public.
Dow Jones Newswires
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