One of three base oil trains at Motivas Port Arthur, Texas, base oil plant is scheduled to shut down this week for a maintenance turnaround, customers said. It comes three weeks after Petro-Canada, with a slight delay, completed a turnaround at its plant in Mississauga, Ontario.
The turnaround at Port Arthur was originally scheduled for April but was postponed. Sources said the company has stated it wanted to allow more time to build inventories.
On Thursday Motiva will close one of two units that existed prior to the plants March expansion,which is now dedicated to production of its Group II 105 neutral oil. Customers said the shutdown is scheduled to last21 days.
Given the disruptions that have plagued the industry the past 11 months, base oil buyers are hoping Motivas turnaround goes as smoothly as Petro-Canadas. One of two trains at the Mississauga plant resumed production the third week of June, after a six-week shutdown. In addition to maintenance, the company made changes that added 3,100 barrels per day of capacity to the train, which produces Group II-plus and Group III base oils.
That shutdown took a week longer than originally scheduled, customers said. The plant now has capacity of 15,600 b/d.
Posted prices in the United States for paraffinic base oils were unchanged again this week. The cost of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $74.13 per barrel, according to Bloomberg. That was 20 cents higher than the price a week earlier.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.