Refinery Events

February 10, 2012—February 16, 2012

The following events were obtained from the Department of Energy (DOE) website:

Fire Shuts Platformer at Korea National Oil Corp.’s 115,000 b/d Come by Chance, Newfoundland Refinery February 8 Korea National Oil Corp. reported a brief fire on Wednesday that shut the refinery’s platformer, but all other major processing units were operating. A refinery spokeswoman said the platformer will be shut for the next few days, according to reports. Reuters, 15:40 February 9, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-10-12. NOTE: USW-represented refinery

Update: Suncor Works to Block Toxic Material from Leaving Its 35,000 b/d Commerce City, Colorado Refinery; Claims There Is No Leak A Suncor Energy executive said the company does not believe it has a leak at the Commerce City refinery at this time, but crews are working on a collector trench to stop “black gunk” flowing under its refinery from reaching local waterways. Suncor is also working to complete an underground clay wall at the refinery to block toxic material from leaving the property. In December reports indicated Suncor had acknowledged a break in an underground pipe between the refinery and a storage tank at the Colorado refinery, according to state health officials. Subsequent tests have identified petroleum-based contaminates in the local water supply. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19916057 Posted to DOE website 2-10-12.

ConocoPhillips Reports Process Upset, Flaring at Its 146,000 b/d Borger, Texas Refinery February 9 http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164667 Posted to DOE website 2-10-12.

PBF Reports Normal Operations after Fluid Coking Unit Upset at Its 190,000 b/d Delaware City, Delaware Refinery February 13 PBF Energy said all operations were normal on Monday at its Delaware City refinery, according to a notice on the community information line. The company had earlier reported an upset at the fluid coking unit that caused a release of hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia. Reuters, 09:19 February 13, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Blower Loss Shuts FCCU at BP’s 455,790 b/d Texas City, Texas Refinery February 10 BP Plc reported a fluid catalytic unit (FCCU) tripped offline Friday due to the loss of a blower, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Operators made adjustments to stabilize the unit, and the unit resumed operation. http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164733 Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

ExxonMobil Reports Flaring at Its 344,500 b/d Beaumont, Texas Refinery February 13 ExxonMobil reported flaring at its Beaumont refinery, according to a notice posted on the Southeast Texas Alerting Network. The notice said operating conditions within the plant required flaring. Reuters, 06:24 February 13, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Valero Shuts SRU Due to Unit Upset at Its 310,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas Refinery

1 February 9 Valero reported a sulfur recovery unit (SRU-545) experienced an upset that required operators to shut it down, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The refinery placed the sour water stripper units on circulation, moved acid gas to other sulfur recovery units, and activated the refinery sulfur shedding plan to reduce acid gas production. http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164697 Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Unspecified Unit Malfunction Leads to Flaring at Citgo’s 163,000 b/d Corpus Christi, Texas Refinery February 10 Citgo Petroleum Corp. reported a unit malfunction triggered flaring at its east and west plants on Friday night, according to a filing with local officials. Reuters, 15:24 February 12, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Valero Reports Flaring after Shutting Inlet Gas Compressors at Its 142,000 b/d Corpus Christi, Texas Refinery February 10 Valero on Monday said the flaring it reported on Friday, which was due to the shutdown of inlet gas compressors, had no material impact to production. No main production units were involved in the flaring, a spokesman said. Reuters, 11:14 February 13, 2011. Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

ConocoPhillips Reports Unspecified Process Upset, Emissions at Its 146,000 b/d Borger, Texas Refinery February 11 http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164725 Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Chevron Starts Hydrogen Plant at Its 330,000 b/d Pascagoula, Mississippi Refinery February 13 Chevron Corp. reported the startup of a hydrogen plant at its Pascagoula refinery on Friday, according to a filing with the U.S. National Response Center. The startup resulted in the flaring of nitrogen oxide, according to the filing. http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/reports/rwservlet?standard_web+inc_seq=1002706 Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

ConocoPhillips Reports a Leak at Its 120,000 b/d Rodeo, California Refinery February 9 ConocoPhillips reported a leak Thursday at its Rodeo refinery in Northern California, according to a notice with county regulators. Operators resolved the situation, according to the filing. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-10/u-s-northwest-gasoline-strengthens-on-work-at-bp- oilrefinery.html Posted to DOE website 2-13-12.

Sunoco Restoring Normal Rates at Its 335,000 b/d Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Refinery February 14 after a Supply Problem Led to Unspecified Reductions Sunoco Inc. has returned its refinery to nearly normal operations after running at reduced rates while awaiting an oil tanker delayed by weather, according to a source familiar with refinery operations on Tuesday. It is not clear how much rates were reduced. Sunoco had earlier announced it was ramping up rates to compensate for the closure of its neighboring Marcus Hook refinery. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/refinery-operations-sunoco-philadelphia- idUSL2E8DE8D820120214 Posted to DOE website 2-14-12.

PBF Restarts Compressors in Catalytic Cracking Unit after Electrical Issue at Its 190,000 b/d Delaware City, Delaware Refinery February 13

2 PBF Energy said compressors at its Delaware City refinery were back online following an electrical issue on an 80,000 b/d catalytic cracking unit, according to a filing with state pollution regulators. Two compressors in the cracker unit were inoperable due to an electrical issue, which led to flaring, the filing said. PBF reported a coking unit upset at the refinery yesterday. Reuters, 17:35 February 13, 2012 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120214/NEWS08/202140337/Delaware-City-Refinery- pollutioncontinues-second-day?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome Posted to DOE website 2-14-12.

Alon Reports Emissions from SLE Unit at Its 67,000 b/d Big Spring, Texas Refinery February 12 Alon USA reported emissions from a saturated light ends (SLE) unit at its refinery in Big Spring, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Operators made adjustments and restored normal operations that day, according to the filing. http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164811 Posted to DOE website 2-14-12.

Chalmette Reports Lube Oil System Snag at Its 192,500 b/d Chalmette, Refinery February 13 Chalmette Refining reported a release of an unknown amount of xylenes into the atmosphere after a lube oil system was contaminated with the xylenes Monday afternoon, according to a filing with the U.S. National Response Center. Operators shut down the system, isolated the area, and neutralized the material, securing the release within 15 minutes. http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/reports/rwservlet?standard_web+inc_seq=1002872 Posted to DOE website 2-14-12.

ExxonMobil Reports Flaring at Its 238,600 b/d Joliet, Illinois Refinery February 14 ExxonMobil reported an unknown amount of nitrogen dioxide was releasing due to flaring at the refinery yesterday afternoon, according to a filing with the U.S. National Response Center. http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/reports/rwservlet?standard_web+inc_seq=1002973 Posted to DOE website 2-15-12.

U.S. Midwest Refiners Plan Light Spring Maintenance Schedules; Could Boost Regional Throughput Levels nearly 100,000 b/d over 5-Year Average U.S. Midwest refiners are planning the lightest spring maintenance season in more than five years, according to data from IIR Energy, which will help them absorb a growing surplus of crude output from North Dakota’s Bakken oil shale play and Canada’s oil sands patch. An average of 84,000 b/d of planned maintenance is scheduled during regional turnarounds for the February to April period, less than half the five-year average of 181,000 b/d, according to IIR. The period included two years of heavy maintenance, 2009 and 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/midwest-refining-maintenance-idUSL2E8DEF2A20120214 Posted to DOE website 2-15-12.

Sunoco Tells Union Workers at Its Shuttered Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania Refinery in Pennsylvania to Stop Reporting to Work after February 20 Reuters, 10:21 February 15, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-15-12.

Pennsylvania Renews Discharge Permit for ConocoPhillips’ Shuttered Trainer, Pennsylvania Refinery February 14 The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today issued a renewal of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for ConocoPhillips’ Trainer refinery. A DEP release says that even though the facility is currently idle, the permit renewal is a “necessary and critical step in putting the refinery in a position to be acquired by a new operator.”

3 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19264&typeid=1 Posted to DOE website 2-15-12.

ExxonMobil Shuts FCCU for Repairs at Its 344,500 b/d Beaumont, Texas Refinery February 15 ExxonMobil said on Wednesday that operators took a unit (FCCU) out of production for “minor equipment repairs,” according to reports. A spokeswoman said the refinery does anticipate some impact to production, but declined to say how long the unit would be shut. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/refinery-operations-exxon- beaumontidUSH5E8D900A20120216?type=companyNews Posted to DOE website 2-16-12.

Motiva to Restart FCCU after Brief Repairs at Its 285,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas Refinery February 16 Motiva Enterprises reported Thursday that it will initiate startup procedures on its fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) after a brief unit downtime to complete repairs, according to a filing with state regulators. Operators anticipate the startup sequence will last approximately 7 days. The filing mentions a carbon monoxide boiler and FCCU 3 as the sources of emissions. http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=164901 Posted to DOE website 2-16-12.

Partial Power Loss Affects Multiple Units, Leads to Flaring at Marathon’s 490,000 b/d Garyville, Louisiana Refinery February 15 – Local Officials Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Garyville refinery was hit by a partial power loss on Wednesday morning, according to local officials, affecting multiple units and triggering flaring. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/refinery-operations-marathon-garyville- idUSH5E8D900820120215 Posted to DOE website 2-16-12. \ Placid Refining Reports SRU Shutdown at Its 56,000 b/d Port Allen, Louisiana Refinery February 14 Placid Refining Co. reported a release of sulfur dioxide due to the shutdown of the No. 2 sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at its Port Allen refinery Tuesday night, according to a filing with the U.S. National Response Center. Operators were working to get the unit back online at the time of the filing and had not yet secured the release. http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/reports/rwservlet?standard_web+inc_seq=1002994 Posted to DOE website 2-16-12.

Update: Fire-Damaged Unit at Korea National Oil Corp.’s 115,000 b/d Come by Chance, Newfoundland Refinery Has Been Repaired − Spokeswoman Korea National Oil Corp. reported last week that a brief fire at the refinery February 8 shut a platformer without disrupting other units. Reuters, 13:06 February 16, 2012. Posted to DOE website 2-16-12.

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