Kazakhstan's Atyrau refinery halts production after running out of LPG storage

ALMATY. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's Atyrau Oil Refinery LLP has suspended the operations of its catalytic cracking unit after it ran out of storage for liquefied petroleum gas.

"The delayed shipments of LPG by regional gas network companies, under the quotas allocated by the Energy Ministry, have resulted in a shortage of storage. On January 10, 2023, the Atyrau Refinery had to halt the operations of the catalytic cracking unit and related facilities," the refinery said on Tuesday.

The production of petroleum products slowed down after the equipment was put on hold. "LPG production dropped from 500 tonnes/day to 20 tonnes/day; motor gasoline from 6,000 tonnes/day to 1,500 tonnes/day; diesel fuel from 4,000 tonnes/day to 2,000 tonnes/day," the refinery said.

"In an effort to avoid any further disruption of the production schedule, the Atyrau refinery requests the administrations of the West Kazakhstan, Aktobe, Kyzylorda, and Kostanay regions to take measures and arrange for moving the allocated LPG volumes from the refinery: Aktobe region (464 tonnes); Kyzylorda region (1,977 tonnes); Kostanay region (3,683 tonnes); West Kazakhstan region (3,589 tonnes)," the company said.

The Atyrau Oil Refinery is one of the three major oil refineries in Kazakhstan. The main owner of the enterprise is the national company "KazMunayGas". The design processing capacity is 5.5 million tonnes per year, and refining depth is up to 86.4%.