Refinery Status: Coker Operations At Valero Benecia To Resume Soon

18th Jun 2010 14:20

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES The following table lists unplanned and planned production outages at U.S. refineries as reported by Dow Jones Newswires. The information is compiled from both official and unofficial refining sources and doesn't purport to be a comprehensive list. Feed will be returned soon to a coker unit at Valero Energy Corp.'s (VLO) Benecia, California refinery. Feed was pulled Thursday afternoon when the unit experienced a hydrocarbon released dut to an unknown cause. The unit continued to operate after the release, a company spokesman said. "No material impact to production is expected," he added. A filing with the state environmental regulator released this afternoon stated that 20 personnel were evacuated from the coker unit due to what was at initially characterized as a release "due to unknown causes." Chevron (CVX) replaced the damaged part of a pipeline that caused oil to spill into a Salt Lake City creek last weekend, but the pipeline hasn't resumed operations, a company spokesman said Thursday. The 15,000 b/d pipeline, which supplies area refineries. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) resumed normal operations at its Baton Rouge, La., refinery after experiencing minor equipment trouble Wednesday, a company spokesman said. "The equipment has been repaired and all operations are currently normal," he added. Valero Energy Corp.'s McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas, experienced an upset at a key gasoline-making unit Wednesday, according to a filing with state environmental regulators. Valero is planning to double its crude gathering capacity in its existing North Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle footprint by the fourth quarter, which would boost supplies to its McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas, according to a company statement Wednesday. A key gasoline-making unit at BP-Husky Refining LLC's Ohio refinery near Toledo is expected to resume normal operations Thursday after going off-line Tuesday owing to a boiler failure, a person familiar with operations at the plant said Wednesday. ConocoPhillips'(COP) refinery in Ferndale, Washington, shut an alkylation unit and butamer following a a fire at an alky depropanizer feed pump Tuesday morning, according to Northwest Clean Air Agency report. For more detailed information, search Dow Jones Newswires using the code N/REF. Operator Refinery Capacity Description Restart (in 000s bbl/day) UNPLANNED GULF COAST Exxon Baton Rouge 503.0 Operations normal June 17 N/A LA following a minor equip- ment problem the day before. Lyondell Houston 268.0 CDU hit by fire on May 17 is Jun 20 TX expected to restart in four weeks. 2nd crude unit re- started from unplanned mainte- nance on May 19. All other pro- cess units have been operating with feedstocks on hand. Shell Deer Park 310.0 Early day fire on May 17 May 21 TX results in feed rate cut to FCCU; unit is expected to resume normal rates by May 21, a person familiar with operations at the plant said on May 18. Conoco Borger, TX 146.0 Unit 40 FCCU electrostatic precipitator equipment malfunctioned June 4; an alternate was restarted. Valero Sunray, TX 170.0 FCCU upset when expander coupling on power train failed June 16. The unit could be down until mid- July, the co. said on June 17. MIDWEST BP Toledo, OH 125.5 FCCU expected to resume operations June 17 after going offline June 15 due to a boiler failure, a person familiar with operations. ROCKIES Sinclair Casper, 20.0 Refinery running at reduced rates Wyo. after explosion, co said. May 27 WEST COAST Chevron El Segundo 279.0 Isomax plant shut March 19 n/a CA due to "small" fire. No estimate on restart. Conoco Carson, CA 139.0 Company reports flaring due to an exceedance in sulfur dioxide emission. Event noted as "non- emergency; cause unclear. Conoco Ferndale, 100.0 An alkylation unit and butamer n/a WA following a pump fire early June 15, an environmental agency said. The refinery continues to operate, Co. said June 15. Conoco Rodeo, CA 120.0 Unidentified mechanical issue caused flaring June 12. Shutdown of unidentified unit caused flaring, Co. said June 7. Tesoro Wilmington 100.0 Hydrocracker Unit Shut April 11 n/a CA due to a mechanical issue. No estimate on restart. Hydrocracker is down, Co. said June 7; no further details. Tesoro Anacortes 120.0 Fire at naphtha unit April 2 end Q2 WA killed seven. Plant will be shut until Sept at least, the co. said June 11. Exxon Torrance, CA 150.0 Mechanical issue at an unidentified unit has been resolved with a minor impact to production, Co. said June 14. Valero Benicia, CA 177.0 Coker Unit continues to operate; feed to be restored soon, the co. said June 17. The unit experienced a hydrocarbon release earlier that day. PLANNED CANADA Shell Montreal 130.0 The refinery could be converted Quebec into a fuel terminal but Co. said its in talks with 2 potential buyers. CARIBBEAN Valero Aruba 235.0 Idled refinery to restart in 90 days after completing turnaround, Co. said June 7. Valero continues to evaluate options for the plant. Tax dispute resolved. EAST COAST Sunoco Westville 145.0 Idling all Eagle Point refin- n/a NJ ing operations indefinitely due to poor economics, Co. said Oct. 6. Sunoco Marcus Hook 178.0 Key Gasoline Unit Restarted May 22 Valero Delaware 210.0 PBF Investments has closed April 2012 deal to buy plant. Petroplus said May 5 the plant would be restarted in 2Q of 2011. Western Yorktown 64.5 Planned work scheduled 3Q 2010. Q3 2010 VA GULF COAST Conoco Borger, TX 146.0 Maintenance activity to take place at several units June 5- July 22, with emissions from units including FCC, GOHDS, SCOT unit incinerator, SRU incinerator and units 41, 42, 45 and 98. Chevron Pascagoula 330.0 Pre-commercial heavy oil 2010 Miss. conversion project delayed from 2008 to 2010 due to economic factors. Work is progressing on the continuous catalytic reformer, expected to be completed by mid-2010, Co. said Feb. 25. Co. is planning to put a premium base-oil facility at plant. Flint Corpus $250 mln project for new Spring 2010 Hills Christi, TX diesel desulfurization, sulfur recovery unit to begin in Fall 2008. Construction to last 18 months. Motiva Port Arthur 285.0 Repairs on DCU pump June 8-13. TX Expansion project to increase 1Q throughput capacity by 325,000 2012 b/d, to 610,000-b/d, slowed. Completion now seen 1Q 2012, from 2010. Valero Corpus 340.0 West Plant 50,000-b/d FCCU at Christi, TX reduced rates since mid-Dec for economic reasons. Valero Norco, LA 250.0 Upgrade project to build 2012 a new diesel hydrotreater unit moved from 2010 to 4Q 2012. Valero Port Arthur 325.0 77,000-b/d FCCU at reduced n/a TX rates since mid-Dec for economic reasons. Valero Sunray, TX 170.0 55,000-b/d FCCU at reduced n/a rates since mid-Dec for economic reasons. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)