GS Caltex completes maintenance at Yeosu plant

[Courtesy of GS Caltex Corp.]

South Korea’s oil refining giant GS Caltex Corp. has completed regular maintenance work at its plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, allowing stable product supply.

According to GS Caltex on Sunday, it resumed operations in all processes at its Yeosu plant from Monday, following the completion of 113.7 billion won ($83.9 million) maintenance work.

Regular maintenance involves disassembling, cleaning, and replacing worn-out parts of equipment in oil refining and chemical plants, followed by reinstallation.

It is typically conducted every four years, requiring the shutdown of the equipment during operation.

GS Caltex has been conducting regular maintenance at the Yeosu plant by dividing some processes in recent years. It takes 40 to 60 days each year to complete, with a budget of 200 billion to 300 billion won.

For the maintenance in the first half of this year, the company spent 113.7 billion won on 14 processes from the end of February, with as many as 1,850 daily workers.

The company, in particular, focused on ensuring safety by adopting digital technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance cameras emitted warning sounds when safety rules were not followed, and a smart gas monitoring system was applied in enclosed spaces to prevent gas suffocation accidents.

GS Caltex announced that it achieved 4 million man-hours without an accident during the overhaul.

The company plans to invest an additional 156.6 billion won to conduct maintenance on another 17 processes in the second half of the year.