Production of premium unleaded petrol resumes at Kwinana refinery

BP Plc restarted production of high octane gasoline at its Kwinana refinery in Western Australia. The reformer at the company’s 137,000 barrels-per-day refinery did not work for a few days, but is back to normal and is once again producing high octane gasoline. As a result of the disruption in production, some retail outlets in the Perth area have run out of supply of premium unleaded petrol. “While it is too early to say that the situation has been completely resolved, we are beginning to re-supply the affected sites,” a notice in the company’s website explained. BP Plc said that there would likely be intermittent shortages of premium grades at the company’s retail outlets in Western Australia until stocks of the products are fully replenished. It added that imports of a wide range of oil products had been arranged for Western Australia to minimize the impact of the lower-than-normal production at its Kwinana refinery. (July 24, 2012)