Early August US downstream update
Arkansas
Lion Oil restarted a gas processing unit at its 75 000 bpd El Dorado refinery on Aug 3rd following an unexpected shutdown. The unplanned shutdown of the gas processing unit triggered the venting of sour natural gas through the sour gas flare for a period of approximately 20 minutes.
Hawaii
Tesoro Corp's 93 000 bpd Kapolei refinery returned to production On August 5th following an earlier power outage.
Louisiana
The hydrocracking unit at Motiva Enterprises’ 233 500 bpd Norco refinery shut down on August 5th. The cause of the shut down is currently unknown. Motiva is a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco Refining.
North Dakota
The EPA has approved an essential permit for the proposed construction of a refinery on the Fort Berthold Reservation near Makoti. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation Clean Fuels Refinery, which will have a processing capacity of 15 000 bpd, is one of only a select few refineries to be built in the US over the past 30 years.
Tennessee
A fire at Valero’s 180 000 bpd Memphis Refinery has been extinguished with no reports of injuries. An explosion originating in a process heater triggered a small fire on the morning of August 5th. The episode has shut two crude units at the complex.
Texas
There was an explosion at Alon USA's 70 000 bpd refinery in Big Spring, according to local reports on August 5th. The resultant small fire at a diesel production unit caused minor injuries for one worker.
One person may have been injured and officials were called to the scene early on Saturday morning, NewsWest9 said.
A report filed by Alon with state regulators on Saturday said an off gas compressor caught fire and flared on Friday,
Wyoming
Black Elk Refining has completed the purchase of the 12 500 bpd Wyoming Refining Co. refinery in Newcastle for an undisclosed fee. The new owners, a joint venture between Chambers Energy Capital and EOR Energy Services, are aiming to increase production by approximately 2000 – 4000 bpd, while also promising equipment upgrades.
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/08082011/early_august_us_downstream_update/
You might also like
Low US distillate consumption reflects slow economic activity and biofuel substitution
The EIA reports that US distillate consumption so far this year is lower than usual because of warm winter weather, reduced manufacturing activity, and continued substitution of biofuels in place of petroleum distillate on the US West Coast (PADD 5).