Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) said four of its process units are to be closed as part of its annual maintenance shutdown programme.

The 1 and 2 Crude Distillation Units, 1 Vacuum Distillation Unit and the Naphtha Rerun Complex, will be shut down from September 29 to October 23 for planned maintenance work, said a statement from Bapco.
 
Such shutdowns occur every five to six years and are necessary to maintain efficiency of the equipment and to ensure that they perform reliably and to capacity after modifications.

The maintenance activities will include replacement of part of the main column in 2 crude unit, modernising instrumentation as part of a new emergency shutdown system and inspecting, repairing and testing of approximately 200 different assets.

More than 700 Bapco and contractors' personnel will be involved in the work, said the Bapco in its statement.

In the interests of safety, many detailed risk assessments have been carried out for the high risk activities and a detailed environment, health, safety and medical plan has been prepared, it added.-TradeArabia News Service