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(CNN Spanish) - The public company Petroecuador reported this Thursday that the Fluidized Catalytic Fractionation Unit (FCC) will suspend activities for at least six days due to damage to a compressor during a failure of the National Interconnected System (SNI).
This unit, located in the Esmeraldas Refinery —the largest in the country, with a processing capacity of 110,000 barrels of daily crude oil— produces petroleum derivatives such as fuel gas, liquefied petroleum gas for the sector's supply, high-octane naphtha used in the preparation of the different gasoline and cyclical oils used in the production of fuel oil.
As explained in a statement, once the fault in the SNI was solved, the technicians started the process units and, according to a preliminary review, “oil leaks were detected in the compressor bearing equipment. For this reason, the mechanical condition of the pieces must be validated, in a time of at least six days, and once the damage is certain, the time taken for the repairs will be defined ”.
Petroecuador finalized the report guaranteeing the supply of fuels "since it has sufficient stock to meet the current demand for products on a national scale."
In a radio interview, René Ortiz, Minister of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources stated that in any case, in the face of the health emergency due to the coronavirus and the strict curfew in force in the country, fuel consumption was reduced by more than one 80%.
