Sudan’s Khartoum refinery shuts down until mid-Sept

SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Sudan’s 70,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Khartoum Refinery Co. (KRC) is shut down for regular maintenance until mid-September, a senior official at the refinery said on Tuesday.

Khartoum Refinery produces 70,000-barrel-per-day, and has plans for further growth.

The refinery has been closed since Aug. 1 as part of a general maintenance programme, under which the refinery will shut down every two years.

The refinery last underwent maintenance two and a half years ago.

The source said the refinery remained on target to complete a planned upgrade by the end of the year.

Under the plan, the refinery’s capacity will be expanded to 100,000 bpd to cope with the country’s increasing diesel demand.

The Khartoum refinery processes the domestic Nile Blend crude. Exports of the medium heavy sweet crude have increased since the shutdown to more than 6 million barrels per month, against around 4.5 million barrels.

Sudan is discussing with Malaysia’s Petronas [PETR.UL] to build a new 100,000-bpd refinery to process the new high acidic Dar Blend crude.

The country also has a small 20,000-bpd refinery in Port Sudan.