Ministry of Energy and Mines makes a work visit to the Talara Refinery

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Francisco Ísmodes Mezzano, made a working visit to Talara Refinery today, to inspect the progress in the construction of the new Talara Refinery, the country's most important energy infrastructure project.

Minister Ísmodes, accompanied by the Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons Eduardo Guevara Dodds, was received by the General Manager of PETROPERU, Esteban Bertarelli Bustamante and other officials of the Company, who presented the characteristics and benefits of the project. Subsequently, the high government official made a tour of the work noting the progress of the works; as well as the modern facilities of the new control room.

The new plant consists of 16 processing units and 5 auxiliary units. The overall progress of the work is 70.94% and is expected to come into operation in December 2020.

The construction of the new Talara refinery is carried out to comply with current legal regulations, to preserve air quality and contribute to the improvement of public health by reducing sulfur in fuels to 10 parts per million; as well as, to ensure the supply of fuels in the national market. The new refinery is a technological development that will completely modify the current production scheme, allowing to process heavy crudes and carry out the deep conversion of residuals to valuable products (diesel, naphtha and LPG) and low octane gasoline to high octane gasoline, thanks to its new units of flexicoking and catalytic reforming, licensed by Exxon Mobil and Axens, respectively.

It was also reported that the work is being built with the highest standards of technology and competitiveness to produce the cleanest fuels in the region, Euro VI quality. Additionally, the new plant will increase its production capacity from 65 thousand to 95 thousand barrels per day.

Finally, it was highlighted that the construction of the new Talara Refinery generates economic dynamism at local and regional level, through the hiring of labor and local companies. Throughout its execution, the project has complied with the percentage of hiring of unskilled labor from Talara, which to date is at around 88%, exceeding the percentage established in the Environmental Impact Study (70%).

NP-239