Here is update on Spain’s BP Castellon Coker Project – the coker will be mechanical complete by year end but operational start is for 1Q 2009 after meeting performance testing.
The Spain cokers are like Mexican cokers in that they both start supplying domestic petcoke into markets previously for the US High Sulfur (6.5%S) exports and at a time when more US production will be coming online due to linkage to Canadian Bitumen crude supplies. US exporters in the past often blended 4.5% Sulfur petcokes to place the HS petcokes but very few new additional supplies LS/4.5% will be coming online. The current production of large volumes of 4.5%S petcoke is from existing Venezuelan upgraders which have had a series of problems trying to operate for any length of time (Hurricanes, fires, accidents, power outages….) & have low utilization rates.
Regards
