Formosa to cut imports of Iraqi crude

Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Taiwan's only private refiner, will import less crude oil from Iraq next month because it plans to shut part of its oil refinery for maintenance in March and April, company officials said.

Formosa plans to shut a residual desulfurization unit, which reduces the sulfur content in oil products, for 30 to 40 days starting in March, said the officials, who asked not to be named. The company plans to change the catalyst at the 70,000 barrel-a-day unit.

The shutdown will cut crude oil processing at the plant in Mailiao by about a quarter, one of the officials said. The plant, which is operating at about 85 percent of its 450,000 barrel-a-day capacity, may run at about 65 percent capacity during the maintenance shutdown.

Formosa Petrochemical will cut imports of high-sulfur Basra Light crude oil from Iraq for loading next month because of the shutdown, the officials said. The company has bought about 2 million barrels of the crude oil each month since September.

The refiner also imports crude oil under one-year contracts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran.

Formosa Petrochemical cut output by more than a quarter when it carried out similar maintenance in September and October. The company changes the catalyst at the plant once a year, the official said.

Formosa Petrochemical, a unit of Taiwan's largest industrial group, competes with state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油).