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“Situation of the Esmeraldas refinery is critical.”
Posted On 14 Aug 2017
Ecuadornews:
Tomorrow President Lenin Moreno will visit the Esmeraldas Refinery in the company of Hydrocarbons Minister Carlos Perez. The presence of the authorities is due to the reported failures and accidents. It´s been almost two years after the repowering of the plant, a process that cost more than $ 2.2 billion, and which is splashed with allegations of corruption.
In an interview given by Minister Perez, the critical situation of the refinery was evident, the losses it has generated since in less than two years, it does not work properly.
Q: What is the situation of the Esmeraldas Refinery?
A: It’s critical. There have been some stoppages due to problems in areas that were part of the repowering process, such as the Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCC) and the power generation area. Last week the Refinery stopped for several days. Just today (Thursday, August 10) operations started again after several days. This was caused by a fire in a generator, caused by overheating. What worries me most is that the generation system was part of the repowering process of the Refinery.
Q: Is there any danger that the Refinery will be completely paralyzed?
A: Of course, because it does not have constant energy. If an accident occurs in the FCC Unit, it is for sure an extended stoppage. Stopping operations has a cost of about $ 1.4 million a day, with the consequent problem of causing a shortage of fuel, something that could be avoided by importing fuel, which means an outflow of foreign exchange.
Q: If there were overprices in the awarding we are talking about corruption …
A: Yes. That is already in the hands of the National Audit Office and the Prosecutor’s Office. Petroecuador has made the respective complaints, and we are analyzing each of the contracts. And we are talking with the companies involved to try to fix the situation. (I)
