Ecuador steps up refinery storage overhaul

State oil company Petroecuador has launched bidding to advance the modernization of fuel storage infrastructure at the 45,000b/d La Libertad refinery (pictured).

The Ecuadoran NOC seeks firms to replace and put into service a tank to hold 56,500b of premium diesel at the coastal plant in Santa Elena province that processes Amazon crude.

Offers for the US$3.66mn, 330-day contract are due September 21, according to procurement information.

Meanwhile, Petroecuador relaunched the call for the construction and startup of a tank to hold 50,000b of diesel at the refinery.

The state operator cancelled the original process after observations from the national public procurement service.

Under the new tender, bids for the US$3.29mn, 300-day contract are due September 22.

Petroecuador highlights that various tanks at the 60-year old refinery require urgent maintenance and that there is even the threat of sudden failure, as most suffer from a very high degree of corrosion brought on by the saline environment due to the plant’s location.

La Libertad’s storage capacity reaches nearly 2.22Mb in 102 tanks.

The company also has procurement underway to modernize and expand fire control systems at La Libertad and its Esmeraldas (110,000b/d) and Shushufindi (20,000b/d) refineries.