Bangchak upgrades fuel-oil cracker

Thai refiner Bangchak Petroleum Public Co. Ltd., which is majority-owned by the Thai government and oil and gas firm PTT Public Company Ltd. (PTT PCL), has spent US$378 million on a product quality improvement (PQI) program for a fuel-oil cracking facility that is scheduled for completion in mid-February 2009. The program would allow the refiner to raise capacity to up to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2009 from around 74,000 bpd in 2008, Chief Executive Anusorn Sangnimnuan said. Bangchak’s refining margin, excluding the impact from losses or gains in oil inventory, should stay as high as US$6 per barrel in 2009, much the same as 2008, said Anusorn. (December 15, 2008)