Refinery Status: Valero Reports Maintenance At Corpus Christi Plant

21st Jun 2010 14:08

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. Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) Sunday reported about 12 hours of maintenance activity in Complex 7 of the East plant at its Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery. The work necessitated the shutdown of an unspecified processing unit, a filing to Texas state environmental regulators said. BP's (BP) Cherry Point refinery in Washington state was operating normally on June 18 following a brief upset the day before, a person familiar with operations at the plant said. A coker unit at Valero Energy Corp.'s Benecia, California refinery was moving toward normal operating rates on June 18 following a second upset the day before. Feed to the unit was pulled earlier on June 17 when the unit experienced a hydrocarbon release to an unknown cause. The unit continued to operate after the release, a company spokesman said. 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. Valero Corpus 315.0 Required maintenance reported to Jun 20 Christi, TX state regulators at unspecified unit in complex 7, East Plant on June 20. Scope of work unclear. 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. Valero Delaware 210.0 PBF Investments has closed Apr 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. Expanded crude gather system 4Q will increase available crude 2010 supplies to refinery by 4Q. MIDWEST BP Toledo, OH 155.0 $400 million upgrade 2012 to start 2010. Valero Memphis, TN 195.0 Fire erupted at a selective hydrogenation unit April 29; it was quickly extinguished. One worker in serious condi- tion due to burns. Fire damage was relatively minor and any delay to related FCCU would be (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires June 21, 2010 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT)