Texas City hit with power outages

TEXAS CITY, Texas, April 26 (UPI) -- Dry weather may be to blame for knocking out power to three refineries and two chemical plants in Texas City, Texas, officials said.

Emergency management officials issued two different shelter-in-place orders overnight after a series of power outages hit the city, The Galveston County (Texas) Daily News reported Tuesday.

The first outage took BP's Texas City refinery and chemical plants offline, prompting the city to declare a level 3 emergency. Dow Chemical also had to shut down because of the lack of power, officials said.

Power went out at the Valero and Marathon Oil refineries, prompting both facilities to activate their flare systems. Texas City Homeland Security Coordinator Bruce Clawson said Marathon had its power situation under control quickly.

Texas City school officials canceled Tuesday classes and residents were advised to stay indoors and turn off their air conditioners.

Officials said a build-up of salt on power line insulators, caused by drought and windy conditions, may have been to blame for the outages.



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Refinery Status: Valero Restarts Port Arthur Hydrocracker

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) restarted the 45,000 barrel-a-day hydrocracker at its Port Arthur, Texas, on April 8, a company spokesman said.

Shell Oil Co.'s refinery in Deer Park, Texas, would attempt to restart the DU2 Unit Crude Column V-5102 during the weekend of April 9 after shutting it down on March 31 because of a light naptha leak, a trader said.

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) said a small fire caused the shutdown of one of the two crude distillation units at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, on April 7.

Alon USA Energy Inc. (ALJ) restarted an FCCU at its 80,000 barrel-a-year refinery in Krotz Spring, La., after a loss of steam put it offline, the company said April 6.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (XOM) has resumed normal operations at its 500,000 barrel- a-day Baton Rouge refinery after a completed turnaround at the site's FCCU unit, the company said April 5.

Sunoco Inc. (SUN) is restarting the FCCU and crude distillation units at its Philadelphia refinery, according to government documents made public April 5. The company delayed restarting the FCCU at its refinery in Marcus Hook, Penn., according to a government agency.

Tesoro Corp. (TSO) completed the restart of unspecified units at its 97,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Wilmington, Ca., on April 5 following routine maintenance, a company spokesman said.

LyondellBasell restated the FCCU at its Houston refinery, two traders said on April 1. A Lyondell spokesman did not return calls seeking comment.

BP plc.'s (BP) refinery in Texas City, Texas, is emitting hydrogen sulfide into the air because of a malfunctioning valve, the company said in a government filing made public on April 1.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) said on April l it had restarted unspecified units at its refinery in Torrance, Ca., that had been shut down for unplanned maintenance in early March.

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) said March 31 it had restarted an alkylation unit at its 72,000 barrel-a-day Texas City refinery that been shut down for repair on March 28.

Alon USA Energy Inc. (ALJ) said March 31 it had restarted its 50,000 barrel-a- day refinery in Paramount, Ca., after a months-long suspension of operations.

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) reported emissions at its Corpus Christi West Plant starting March 29 resulting from the restart of the plant's units. The company said March 30 that the plant was moving to planned rates.

ConocoPhillips's (COP) Los Angeles refinery took its coking unit down for repair, traders said on March 28. The unit is expected to restart in mid-April, traders said.

BP PLC (BP) will begin about 60 days of scheduled maintenance at Reformer No. 4 and an alkylation unit at its Whiting, Indiana, refinery and the end of March. Separately, planned maintenance at the plant's Pipestill 12 has been delayed by three months; the work was scheduled to begin in November, a person familiar with operations at the refinery said March 25.