US Refinery Status: Valero Starts Turnaround Work At NJ Plant

Dec 1, 2009

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) said Monday that scheduled plant-wide maintenance began over the weekend at its Paulsboro, N.J., refinery, starting with the key gasoline-making FCCU. All units will be shut over the coming weeks with the restart seen in mid-January.

Husky Energy Inc. (HUSKF, HSE.T) said Monday that its refinery in Lima, Ohio, was ramping toward normal rates after shutting down Oct. 1 for major turnaround maintenance. An isocracker unit at the plant remains shuttered due to a minor fire last week. Repairs should be completed within two weeks and crude throughput will not be affected by the unit's shutdown.

Valero Energy Corp. Monday said the third coker unit module at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was returned to service over the weekend and that the unit was moving toward normal processing rates. Three modules, each containing two drums, were shuttered mid-November to repair cracks; two of the module were returned to service earlier.

For more detailed information, search Dow Jones Newswires using the code N/ REF.
Operator Refinery Capacity Description Restart
(in 000s
bbl/day)

UNPLANNED

CANADA


Suncor Sarnia 85.0 Hydrocracker unit shut Oct n/a
Ontario 11 due to fire at associated
compressor; no restart esti-
mate available.

EAST COAST

CARIBBEAN


GULF COAST

BP Texas City 455.8 Ultraformer #4 restarted on
Nov. 7-19. Flares at Ultracracker
Nov. 20

Valero Port Arthur 310.0 Third coker unit module restarted Nov. 28/29
TX Nov. 28/29. Three modules were
shut Nov 18 to repair cracks.


MIDWEST

Husky Lima, OH 160.0 Minor fire damages isocracker Dec. 14
Dec. 14 on Nov. 21.



ROCKY MOUNTAINS

WEST COAST



PLANNED

CANADA


CARIBBEAN

Valero Aruba 235.0 The refinery that was shut
in June for 2-3 months for
economic reasons is being
closed indefinitely.

EAST COAST

Sunoco Westville, NJ 145.0 Idling all refining Mid-Nov
operations indefinitely due
to poor economics, Co. said
Oct. 6. It will take 4-6
weeks to work through crude
stocks to shut down.

Reformer unit shut in Girard n/a
Point section in early Oct
for economic reasons. Shutdown
to last 1-6 months.

Valero Delaware City 210.0 Plant to be permanently shut due
DE to poor economics, announced
Nov. 20. Delaware Official said
it would be shut on Nov. 22.

Valero Paulsboro 185.0 Plant-wide scheduled maintenance mid-Jan.
NJ began Nov. 28/29 starting at the
FCCU.

Western Yorktown 64.5 Planned work scheduled 1Q 2010.
Va.

MIDWEST
Frontier Kansas 130.0 Extended FCCU work by several
days will reduce charge
rates to 76,000 bbls/day from
81,500 bbls/day.

Husky Lima, OH 160.0 Plant Restarting; at 120,000 Nov. 20
b/d on Nov. 30.



ROCKY MOUNTAIN

Western Bloomfield, 16.8 Co. announced plans Nov. 9
NM to idle plant and shift
production to Gallup plant.

Western Gallup, 20.8 Utilization will be boosted
NM to near full capacity with
Bloomfield shutdown, from
about half, Co. said Nov. 9.

Tesoro Salt Lake City, 58.0 Planned turnaround in 2010;
Utah no timetable disclosed.

Tesoro Mandan, N.D. 58.0 Planned turnaround in 2010;
no timetable disclosed.

Exxon Joliet, Ill. 238.6 Vacuum distillation unit restarted
earlier this week after planned
work, company said Nov. 11.

GULF COAST

Alon Krotz Springs 80.0 Plantwide turnaround starts Nov. Dec.
LA. In Nov.

Alon Big Spring, 67.0 Restarted SRU on Nov. 6.
TX

Chevron Pascagoula, 330.0 Pre-commercial heavy oil 2010
Miss. conversion project delayed
from 2008 to 2010 due to
economic factors.

Conoco Borger, TX 146.0 Unidentified units shut for
planned turnaround, Co. said
Oct. 9. No further details.
Shut amine unit for planned Oct. 24
maintenance Oct. 9-24.

Shut Unit 34 SRU and tail gas Nov. 15
treatment unit for planned
repairs Nov. 12-15.

Conoco Sweeny, TX 247.0 Six weeks of turnaround work Oct 30
starts Sept. 14 at Units 14,
9, 38 and 27, which is an
FCCU.

FCCU leak being repaired Nov. 12.

Tail gas incinerator shut during Nov. 1
fall turnaround Sept. 30

Exxon Baytown 572.5 FCCU No. 3 shut Sep 15. for
TX planned maintenance. Restarted Nov. 24

Flint Corpus 288.1 $250 mln project for new Spr
Hills Christi, TX diesel desulfurization, 2010
sulfur recovery unit to begin
in Fall 2008. Construction
to last 18 months.

Marathon Garyville 245.0 Project to increase crude oil 4Q
LA refining capacity by 180,000- 2009
b/d 85% complete, as of end
April. New units expected
start up in 4Q 2009. Entire
refinery reaches full capacity 2Q'10

Motiva Port Arthur 285.0 Expansion project to increase 1Q
TX throughput capacity by 325,000 2012
b/d, to 610,000-b/d, slowed.
Completion now seen 1Q
2012, from 2010.

Valero Corpus 340.0 Coker unit shutdown for econo- n/a
Christi, TX mic reasons and planned work;
delayed to June 19 from June
12. The 20,000-b/d unit will
remain off line through July
but could restart at any time
if margins improve.

20,000-b/d FCCU in East n/a
Plant shut; West Plant
50,000-b/d FCCU at reduced
rates since mid-Dec for
economic reasons.

15,000-b/d HCU in East Plant
set for 18 days of work in Jan.

36,000-b/d HCU in West Plant
sent for 18 days of work in Feb.

Restarting West Plant Tank 67
after maintenance, Nov. 12-13.

Valero Norco, LA 250.0 Upgrade project to build 2012
a new diesel hydrotreater
unit moved from 2010 to
4Q 2012.

Turnaround at crude/ coker unit 1Q
set for 36 days in Jan.
Entire Plant
to be shut for work.

The coker will operate at
50% of capacity when
restarted due to poor
economics.

Valero Port Arthur 325.0 77,000-b/d FCCU at reduced n/a
TX rates since mid-Dec for
economic reasons.

45,000 b/d HCU to undergo Spring
38 days of work in March.

Valero Sunray, TX 170.0 55,000-b/d FCCU at reduced n/a
rates since mid-Dec for
economic reasons.

Western El Paso, TX 29.5 Planned work at south side of
plant, including crude unit
and FCCU in Jan for 20 days.

WEST COAST


Tesoro Golden Eagle 166.0 40 days of work, including FCCU, Feb.
alky starting Jan. 8

Tesoro Wilmington 100.0 Restarting hydrocracker Nov. 9. It
CA will take several days.
Unplanned downtime at the delayed
coker will impact 4Q yields, co.
said Nov. 9. Coker was restarted

Tesoro Oahu, HI 94.0 Planned turnaround in 2010;
no timetable disclosed.

Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200912010845dowjonesdjonline000211&title=us-refinery-status-valero-starts-turnaround-work-at-nj-plant