Australian refiner and fuel marketer Ampol plans to restart its 109,000 b/d Lytton refinery in September and reach full production in early October.
The Lytton refinery in Brisbane has been on extended maintenance since May. Ampol, formerly known as Caltex Australia, brought forward work that had been scheduled to start in July in reaction to a fall in demand and margins because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The extended shutdown allowed Ampol to carry out planned turnaround and inspection activities and to manage the operational and financial impacts of Covid-19 on the refinery operations, the company said.
Maintenance is due to be completed as planned at the end of August, with a phased restart of the refinery units expected throughout September. Ampol expects to be able to produce at full production by the beginning of October and will continue to evaluate refinery runs based on prevailing market conditions, which it said "continue to be highly uncertain."
Ampol has not provided profit guidance for January-June or updated 2020 production guidance for the Lytton refinery because of uncertainty caused by Covid-19.
