SK Energy says to start new secondary unit in June

SEOUL, April 3 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Energy (096770.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday its new residue fluid catalytic cracking unit will start production in June, increasing the refiner's capacity to produce lighter and more expensive products including gasoline and diesel.

The new unit, which refines low-priced high-sulphur fuel oil as feedstock, will increase the refiner's upgrading ratio to 14.5 percent from the current 9 percent, or to 162,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current 102,000 bpd, SK Energy said in a statement.

The new RFCC unit will have a maximum production capacity of 60,000 bpd, it said.

SK Energy currently operates No.1 57,000 bpd RFCC, and a heavy oil upgrading unit that has a capacity of 45,000 bpd at its Ulsan plant, south of Seoul. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)