智利国家石油公司将关闭该国最大炼油厂的一部分进行维护，在全球燃料市场空前紧张之际，此举恐将恶化柴油紧缺的局势。
Chile’s state oil company will shut part of the country’s largest oil refinery for maintenance, threatening to worsen the diesel crunch with global fuel markets never tighter.
炼油厂承包商联合会（Fetracon）总书记亚历杭德罗·奥乔亚（Alejandro Ochoa）对彭博社表示，智利国家石油公司（Empresa Nacional del Petroleo）计划从10月1日起对比奥比奥（Bio Bio）炼油厂进行为期40天的维护。作业将涉及两套原油装置中较小的一套，以及生产和升级柴油以符合道路燃料标准的工厂。比奥比奥炼油厂生产了智利消费的所有燃料的大约三分之一。
Empresa Nacional del Petroleo is set to carry out a 40-day maintenance at the Bio Bio refinery starting on Oct. 1, Alejandro Ochoa, general secretary at refinery contractors federation Fetracon, told Bloomberg. Work will involve the smaller of two crude units and plants that produce and upgrade diesel to meet road-fuel standards. Bio Bio produces about a third of all fuels consumed in Chile.
此次检修恰逢智利最大的供应国美国正权衡对其实施柴油出口禁令之际，以应对伊朗战争和乌克兰对俄罗斯炼油厂的打击所引发的高油价。供应紧缩已推高了全球各地的零售价格，促使各国政府宣布补贴和减税措施，以缓冲对消费者的冲击。
The work comes as the US, Chile’s top supplier, weighs imposing a ban on diesel exports to combat high prices ushered in by the Iran war and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. The supply squeeze has driven retail prices higher across the globe, prompting governments to announce subsidies and tax cuts to cushion the impact on consumers.
该炼油厂的一位女发言人在回答质询时表示，比奥比奥炼油厂将于10月开始对七家工厂进行预防性作业。她说，未参与维护计划的装置将正常运行。
The Bio Bio refinery will carry out preventive work at seven plants starting in October, a spokeswoman said in response to questions. Units that are not involved in the maintenance program will operate normally, she said.
据知情人士透露，在智利，私营柴油进口商已开始联系贸易商，寻找来自日本和韩国的非美国供应。这些知情人士称，这两个国家与智利签有自由贸易协定，这使它们比其他供应商更具优势。因涉及私密信息，知情人士要求匿名。智利与巴西和墨西哥一样，是拉丁美洲最大的柴油进口商。
In Chile, private importers of diesel have started reaching out to traders looking for non-US supplies from Japan and South Korea, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The two countries have free-trade agreements with Chile, giving them an advantage over other suppliers, said the people, asking not to be named discussing private information. Chile, along with Brazil and Mexico, are the largest diesel importers in Latin America.
上周，智利能源部长西梅娜·林孔（Ximena Rincon）对BioBio电台表示，如果美国实施出口禁令，政府正与燃料经销商就从日本和中国等地购买柴油的可能性进行谈判。
Last week, Chile’s Energy Minister Ximena Rincon told Radio BioBio that the government is in talks with fuel distributors about the possibility of buying diesel from places like Japan and China in case the US imposes a ban on exports.
根据海事情报公司 Kpler Ltd. 的数据，Enap 公司生产的柴油足以满足该国国内需求的一半左右，其余部分主要从美国进口。这些柴油大多被智利的铜矿业消耗掉，而铜矿业是该国经济的支柱。
Enap produces enough diesel to meet about half of the country’s domestic consumption, with most of the remainder imported from the US, according to data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler Ltd. Most of it is consumed by Chile’s copper mining industry, which is the backbone of the country’s economy.
另一方面，美国和欧洲的炼油厂为了追求利润并满足全球对燃料的需求，一直在推迟设备维护工作。专家警告称，如果继续拖延维修，很可能会导致设备出现故障。
Refiners in the US and Europe, for their part, have been delaying maintenance in order to capture profits and feed the world’s need for fuels. Experts have warned that continuing to postpone repairs will likely lead to breakdowns.
Bio Bio 炼油厂的设施包括原油处理单元、用于生产柴油的加氢裂化装置，以及用于去除柴油中硫元素的装置（这些装置使柴油更适合用作道路燃料）。此外，这些设施也会对生产高辛烷值汽油混合原料的工厂产生影响。
Work at the Bio Bio refinery includes a crude unit, the diesel-making hydrocracker and units that remove sulfur from diesel to make it suitable as a road fuel. It should also impact plants that make high-octane gasoline blendstock.