Sudan’s largest refinery under major maintenance

May 8, 2008 (BEIJING) — Half of Sudan’s 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Khartoum is undergoing major maintenance that may last at least through end-June, Sudan-based industry sources and stakeholder CNPC said on its website.

The newer part of the refinery is closing for maintenance on Thursday, while the older plant completed its regular shutdown last weekend, reported news.cnpc.com.cn, a web publication of China’s top energy group CNPC.

Each plant has a processing capacity of 50,000 bpd.

CNPC, parent of PetroChina <601857.SS><0857.HK>, owns half of the Khartoum refinery, the largest in the African country.

The report did not say how long the shutdown at the newer plant will last, but industry sources told Reuters from Sudan that the repair works may last until the end of June or even up to July.

“All together it lasts some 70 days. It’s for smoother operations later on,” said a CNPC official based in Khartoum, without elaboration.

Sudan, which exports more than 400,000 barrels of crude each day, has four refineries with a total capacity of 142,000 bpd.

It exports small amounts of gasoline but still needs to import diesel to power a growing number of cars under the sizzling desert weather

(Reuters)