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Valero Refinery Partially Reopens After Fire
17 Apr
Summary
- Port Arthur refinery partially restarts after March 23 explosion.
- One crude distillation unit remains shut for heater repairs.
- Diesel prices rose following the refinery's initial shutdown.
Valero Energy Corp. has partially restarted its significant 380,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas refinery. The restart follows an explosion and fire that occurred on March 23. One production line from the 115,000-bpd crude distillation unit is now operational.
However, a second, larger crude distillation unit (210,000 bpd) is still offline. This unit requires repairs to its heater, which sustained damage discovered during an inspection after the March incident. Once this heater is fixed, Valero plans to bring the unit back online.
The March 23 explosion and fire occurred in a diesel hydrotreater, but fortunately, no injuries were reported. Despite this, one lawsuit has been filed alleging injury. The refinery's partial shutdown on March 23 led to an immediate increase of 16 cents per barrel in diesel prices.
