U.S Refineries awaken from their slumber.Of course institutional crude speculation has kept prices high along with a whole other hunger starved world for crude out there besides North America. U. S. refiners are starting to recover from the maintenance period, for the although muted summer driving season. Here is a report on some refiners. rich47.
Operator Refinery Capacity Description Restart (in 000s) (est) UNPLANNEDEAST COASTSunoco Phila 335.0 4-weeks of planned mainte- end-Mar nance at the Point Breeze complex will begin Feb 28-29 starting at the crude unit. FCCU maintenance will start around Mar 3.Valero Aruba 255.0 Refinery continues to oper- End-Mar ate at reduced rates while to End-Apr vacuum unit repairs continue following plant-wide shutdown due to a fire on Jan 25. Crude Vacuum Unit repairs ex- to take 2-3 months.GULF COASTAlon USA Big Spring 70.0 Co. expects partial rates by partial TX end Mar, FCCU to restart by end-Mar mid-July when plant is seen at full rates following the Feb 18 Full propylene unit explosion, mid-Jul the co. said on Mar 6.BP Texas City 463.0 230,000 b/d crude unit seen re- Mar 7 TX starting on about Mar 7 or soon thereafter. On track for the 1Q target to be at 400,000-b/d, the co. said on Feb 27. The plant has been in sequential restart since the Mar 05 fatal explosion and Sep 05 shutdown ahead of Hurricane Rita.Chevron Pascagoula 330.0 Crude unit restarted earlier 1Q '08 in week, the Co. said on Feb 14. Plant on target to reach full ops in first quarter 2008. The crude unit was shut by a fire on Aug 16.Citgo Corpus Chr, 156.0 Crude unit, hydrotreater shut n/a TX Mar 1 for work. FCCU feed rate cut on Mar 10 due to heavy rain. Emissions event brief; status of unit unclear.Valero Corpur Chr 340.0 Hydrogen desulfurization unit Mar 9 TX restarted Mar 9 after pump repairs that started Mar 4Valero Pt Arthur, 325.0 Refinery operating at better- Apr than-expected rate of 260,000 2008 b/d to 270,000 b/d during coking unit repairs to drum cracks. Work began in Feb for 75 days. Rates were initially expected to be reduced by 100,000 b/d during the repairs.Valero St. Charles, 185.0 Millisecond Cat Cracker shut Early LA for 20 days of work in mid-Feb MarMID-CONTINENTBP Whiting,IN 410.0 Normal processing rates seen 2Q '08 in 2nd-quarter '08, the co. said on Feb 27. Earlier esti- mates were for at 1Q return to normal. The plant has been ramping up since a fire at the hydrotreater in Mar 2007.ROCKY MOUNTAINSExxonMob Billings, 60.0 Co. said on Feb 12 that all n/a MT units affected by Oct 17 fire have returned to service. The plant continues to operate at reduced rates while efforts continue to return to normal throughput and production.WEST COASTAlon Long Beach 40.0 Crude units remain shut on Mar 1 CA Feb 7; down since Dec.Chevron El Segundo 260.0 Gas compressor offline on n/a Mar 8; unit(s) affected unknownConocoPh Carson, CA Sulfur recovery units shut n/a Feb 7. The shutdown may be related to ongong work at the plant's crude and coker unit.Valero Benicia CA 165.0 FCC unit shut Feb 28 for Mar 1 pipe repairs PLANNEDEAST COASTConocoPh Linden, NJ 238.0 2-wks of planned work at Mar crude unit and reformer to start early MarGULF COASTBP Texas City, 463.0 Alkylation Unit No. 3 shut end-Feb TX for planned maintenanace on Dec 31; restart not clearCitgo Corpus Christi 156.0 Gasoil hydrotreater shut n/a TX for maintenance Feb 18ConocoPh Borger, Tx 146.0 22-days of planned work starts Mar 21 on Feb 11 to upgrade No. 29 FCCU electrostatic precipitaters. Work extended on March 7ExxonMobil Baytown, 565.0 Coker and crude distillation Mid-March TX unit shut for turnaround. 48 hours of planned work Mar 10 at FCCU boiler concluding early on Mar 10ExxonMobil Chalmette, 185.0 Planned work started Jan 4 on Late Feb. LA FCC and and other units.Shell Deer Park, 334.0 FCC and other units shut Feb 3 TX Jan 17 for work. Began sequen- tial restart on Feb 3; process will continue until Mar 1 Mar 1MID-CONTINENTBP Whiting, IN 405.0 Maintenance turnaround 1Q '08 began before year-end at 95,000-b/d crude unit still underway as of Mar 3; duration unknownConocoPh Wood River 306.0 2-6 wks maintenance turnaround n/a IL started on Mar 7; units un- specified.Flint Hills Rosemount 330.0 Crude throughput reduced by n/a MN 25,000 b/d until new crude oil pipeline is completed later this year. Start of reduced rate unclear.Frontier El Dorado, 110.0 30 days of maintenance and Apr 1 KS expansion, started Mar 1Marathon Detroit 102.0 Tunaround maintenance at n/a MI unspecified unit started early in wk of Mar 2. Duration not known.Sunoco Toledo, OH 160.0 30 days of maintenance on May 1 hydrocracker begining Apr 1. FCCU turnaround lasting 6 weeks planned for 4q 2008 or 1Q 2009WEST COAST
BP Carson, 260.0 60-days of planned turnaround end-Mar CA maintenance underway in earnest on Jan 14 at FCCU, alkylation unit following the Jan 9 start of shutdowns. Restart seen around mid-March.ConocoPh Carson, CA 140.0 Large-scale turnarond mainte- n/a nance planned at crude unit, coker, hydrocracker and re- former starting Apr 1.ConocoPh Rodeo, CA 120.0 Hydrogen unit restarted on Mar 9 Mar 9; shut Feb 22 for planned maintenanceNote: FCC - fluid catalytic cracker, a unit essential to gasoline production hydrocracker - used in diesel production n/a - not available