Turnaround project at Atyrau Refinery scheduled for Sept-Oct - Kazakh Energy Ministry

ALMATY. Aug 18 (Interfax) - A scheduled maintenance and repair project will be conducted at the Atyrau Refinery in September-October this year, the press service of the Kazakh Energy Ministry said in a press release.

The two lines of the Atyrau Refinery will be shut down alternately, and the refinery will continue operating at 50%-70% capacity during the repairs, according to the press release.

The maintenance and repair project will be conducted in connection with the requirements of industrial safety and certification of the equipment and pipelines, electrical equipment, automated process control systems and instrumentation.

"The advantage of the Atyrau Refinery is the two-line oil-refining scheme, meaning that the facilities can be stopped and started alternately. The refinery will continue to operate at 50%-70% capacity, and there will be no complete shutdown of the facilities," the ministry said in the statement.

Atyrau Refinery is one of Kazakhstan's three largest oil refineries that is owned by National Company KazMunayGas, with a design capacity of 5.5 million tonnes a year and a utilization rate up to 86.4%.