Thai Bangchak plans major shutdown for 40 days in Q1 2014

BANGKOK Aug 15 (Reuters) - Thailand's Bangchak Petroleum Pcl said on Wednesday it planned a major shutdown for 40 days in the first quarter of 2014 to connect a planned 100,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit (CDU) to existing facilities.

After the shutdown, the refiner's capacity would rise to 140,000 bpd from 120,000 bpd, Vichien Usanachote, senior executive vice president for the refinery business, told reporters.

Earlier, Bangchak's president said the refiner would spend 5 billion baht ($159 million) to build a new crude distillation unit (CDU) to expand its refining capacity by 17 percent in the next two years.

Vichien said most of the 5 billion baht budget would come from insurance claims after a fire damaged its 80,000 bpd CDU in July and about 20-30 million baht would come from the refiner's cash.

Bangchak, which normally has a maintenance shutdown every two years, shut its 120,000 bpd refinery for maintenance for 30 days in May and June, before the fire in early July.

The refiner expected average refining output of about 80,000 bpd this year, when it expected to make a net profit despite a net loss in the second quarter, hit by an inventory loss after global oil prices dropped, Vichien said.

(Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Alan Raybould)