KNPC says current refining output 510,000-520,000 bpd
KUWAIT, April 18, 2016
Kuwait's current refinery production is between 510,000 and 520,000 barrels per day (bpd) on the second day of a strike by Kuwaiti oil workers, an official from state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) said on Monday.
Khaled Al Asousi, KNPC's deputy chief executive for support services, gave the updated figures in a message to Reuters. On Sunday, refinery production was around 520,000 bpd, down from 930,000 bpd before the strike began.
Thousands of Kuwaiti oil and gas workers are striking to protest against a government plan for public sector pay reforms, although non-Kuwaiti workers in the industry are not on strike. Unions have not said how long the walkout will last.
Kuwait Oil Co spokesman Saad Al-Azmi said on Sunday that his company had cut crude oil output to 1.1 million bpd from its normal level of about 3 million bpd. On Monday, officials had not yet given an update on the crude production level. --Reuters
Ecuador's Esmeraldas refinery still down after quake - Reuters News
QUITO: Ecuador's 110,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Esmeraldas refinery remained down on Sunday as a precautionary measure though will likely soon restart after a major earthquake in the Opec nation that killed at least 235 people, the state oil company said.
Petroecuador said it would assess when to restart operations during the day after verifying that no infrastructure was damaged by the 7.8 magnitude quake which struck off the country's Pacific coast on Saturday.
"In the course of the day, technicians will determine the start of operations," the company said in a statement.
"The impact of the quake caused four of the 10 storage tanks to overflow and so a cleanup and recovery has begun."
Other installations were working normally, it added, and state officials said crude production was unaffected. --Reuters
