New Talara Refinery completed the start-up maneuvers of its last processing units and enters the era of cutting-edge refining

Petroperú completed the start-up operations of the most important units of the New Talara Refinery (NRT): Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and Flexicoking (FCK) and -with this- the commissioning of its processing and auxiliary units, which will allow it to process up to 95 thousand barrels of oil per day. Thus, the state company enters the era of cutting-edge refining, just like the world's most important refining complexes.

These new processing units make it possible to convert heavy crude residuals into products of greater demand and high commercial value, adhering to strict quality standards; thereby ensuring greater profitability for Petroperú, for the benefit of all Peruvians.

The FCC unit technology, present in all highly complex refineries, is licensed by the American company Honeywell UOP, which allows Petroperú to process heavy diesel for the production of high-octane gasoline, diesel and LPG.

Due to its size, the FCK unit is the most impressive and complex plant of the new refinery. It has state-of-the-art technology, licensed by the US oil company Exxon Mobil, present only in seven leading refineries in the world, allowing it to carry out highly reliable and precise operations.

This complex and sophisticated unit allows the residuals obtained from heavy crude oil to be processed and transformed into value-added products (gasoline, diesel and LPG), as well as flexigas, a fuel obtained from coke, which allows lower consumption of natural gas, which will be used as energy for the network of furnaces and boilers and electricity generation, which will be self-sufficient.

The startup of the FCC and FCK units is complemented by the desulfurization units, which came into service in February of this year, which will increase the production of clean fuels with less than 50 parts per million of sulfur for market supply.

In this way, the New Talara Refinery completed the start-up of its new process units and its auxiliary units and begins the stage of continuous operation and optimization of its processes, producing fuels of the highest quality to supply the national market.

Crude oil supply

The NRT has been designed to process light and heavy crudes such as those produced in the country and other parts of the world for the generation of fuels with low sulfur content. In this stage of optimization and continuous production, the NRT does not depend on any specific type of heavy crude, since it is prepared to process the different types that exist in the national and international market.

The commercialization of LPG in the north of the country will begin on September 1, when the corresponding inventories are available.