All units of the new Talara refinery are operational

Petroperú reports that the New Talara Refinery (NRT) is in the integrated operational optimization stage, with all its units producing fuels in specification, such as gasoline, diesel, LPG and Turbo A-1, to meet the demand of the national market. Currently, the refinery processes 90,000 barrels of crude oil per day, consolidating itself as a strategic pillar for the country's energy security.

On December 29, 2023, all NRT processing units were operating stably, so the start of full operation of the refinery complex was declared. All start-up maneuvers of the processing units having been completed, the last being the Flexicoking Unit (FCK), which requires all other units in operation for its operation.

In light of this, it is important to mention that it is expected that during the process of the first start-up of a highly complex unit such as FCK, events may occur that imply making operational adjustments, in order to stabilize and align each unit of the industrial complex, thus; each of the events described in the logbook of the released report, were solved by the technical team of the EPC contractor^[1] [1] (Técnicas Reunidas), always with the accompaniment of the PMC^[2]  supervision staff (CPT) and the specialists of ExxonMobil (owners of the FCK Technology patent).

Petroperú has always acted with transparency, so much so that it shared FCK operating information with the competent authorities that requested it, which showed that in December 2023 the NRT operated at an average load of 74.9 thousand barrels per day (MBDC) with peaks above 90 MBPD and by January 2024 it operated with peaks of 94.1 MBPD (only possible with FCK in operation).

Likewise, the lack of knowledge of the operating process was evident when the aforementioned report mentions the “Breaking of the Overflow Seal” as supposed proof of FCK’s problems, when in reality it is a necessary and indispensable activity to change from the Fluidcoking mode of operation (coke circulation only) to the Flexicoking mode of operation (coke circulation plus coke gasification), thus generating the fuel called flexigas (used for self-consumption of the new refinery).

Petroperú clarifies that, contrary to what the aforementioned report intends to suggest, FCK's outage was not due to the operational events described during the first start-up attempts, between August and November 2023, but due to operational events beyond the control of the unit itself, such as the failure in the interconnected system that caused a BlackOut^[3] of the entire refinery on March 1, 2024.

As a result of the above, and in order to review the integrity of FCK's equipment, Petroperú made the decision to carry out an inspection of the aforementioned unit and officially reported it, which was carried out until July 2024, achieving the restart of FCK in August 2024.

It should be noted that, within the framework of its commitment to transparency, the new board of directors of Petroperú has announced the hiring of an international forensic audit to evaluate the technical and administrative aspects of the megaproject. A specialized commission is already working on the bases of the international competition, which will be reported on shortly.

Petroperú reaffirms its commitment to transparency and its open-door policy with the media and state institutions, and its commitment to continue contributing to the economic and social development of the country.

[1] EPC: Engineering, Procurement and Construction

[2] PMC: Project Management Consulting

[3]  Mar. 01.24 Failure in the national interconnected system causes the Talara Refinery to stop - https://www.petroperu.com.pe/falla-en-sistema-interconectado-nacional-origina-paralizacion-de-refineria-talara