Click on the image at right for a month-by-month breakdown of 2008 CPI maintenance turnarounds based on currently active projects.Earlier this year, Industrial Info reported that planned CPI plant maintenance turnarounds planned for 2008 had already exceeded that of last year. Based on currently active projects identified as part of the North American Project Database, more than 220 maintenance turnarounds are planned at CPI plants during the second half of this year, with an estimated value of $521 million. This is a 17 percent increase in turnaround activity over the first half of the year, with a slight increase of $8 million in spending.
At least four of the turnarounds planned for the remainder of this year will be ethylene units in Texas, Louisiana and Alberta. Ethylene units generally have major turnarounds about every five to seven years depending on their technology and dependencies, so opportunities for equipment and service providers is significant when these turnarounds occur.
The largest individual turnarounds planned during the remainder of the year include the nearly 30-day turnaround of a low density polyethylene unit located in Baytown, Texas, owned by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (The Woodlands, Texas), a joint subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (San Ramon, Calif.) and ConocoPhilips (Houston). Sterling Chemicals Incorporated (Houston) is planning a three to four-week maintenance turnaround of its acetic acid unit in Texas City, Texas, during the third quarter of this year.
As the CPI begins to feel its way through the current economic uncertainties, these turnarounds appear to be less vulnerable to delays and cancellation then many capital projects. These turnarounds are often necessary to replace depleted catalysts, to complete code inspections or to meet compliance standards.
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