US Refinery Maintenance Update

The latest update on the US refinery maintenance schedule. Severe winter weather has shut about 15% of the US Gulf Coast’s oil-refining capacity, equal to around 1.5mbpd of fuelmaking capacity offline as of 17 January according to data from Wood Mackenzie. Some shutdowns may run into an expected heavy spring maintenance season.

• Flint Hills Corpus Christi refinery (West) had an unplanned outage since 13 January, shutting the CDU/VDU. Full restart is expected on 25 January according to Bloomberg. Increased activity began at the 200kbpd CDU and 65VDU on 14 Jan but rates remained below normal, WoodMac said.
• Valero Energy began a planned overhaul on the large CDU at its 335,000-bpd refinery in Port Arthur on 15 Jan according to Reuters sources. In addition to shutting the 210,000-bpd AVU-146 CDU, Valero brought down a coker and a VDU associated with AVU-146, the sources said. The work is planned to take 45 days. The AVU-146 shutdown will impact half the units across the refinery.
• Valero reported excess emissions and flaring at Complex 4 at the Texas City refinery on 16 Jan due to freezing temperatures, according to a notice from TCEQ.
• TotalEnergies’ 238kb/d Port Arthur refinery in Texas remained shut on Jan 18 following a plant-wide power outage on Jan 16 according to Reuters sources. Total was previously reported to be preparing to restart multiple units on Wednesday and working to restore power to the refinery. Numerous issues arose with the power restoration and restart planning. Full production is yet to resume following the completion of works in late November.
• ExxonMobil is overhauling the 65kbpd hydrocracker and the 75kbpd reformer at its 619.024kbpd Beaumont refinery in Texas, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Works at the refinery began on 8 January. Bloomberg sources reported in December the turnaround will last for 5-6 weeks.
• ExxonMobil’s Baytown refinery in Texas remains at reduced rates amid cold weather conditions, according to Bloomberg citing spokesperson Lauren Knight. A flexicoker, fluid catalytic cracker FCCU-3 cut rates due to cold.
• ExxonMobil’s Joliet refinery Illinios, had sulphur dioxide gas flaring Jan. 16 from an unknown issue according to a regulatory filing. The plant was working on flare gas recovery following the incident at 11:25pm local time according to Bloomberg.
• The 67kbpd hydrocracker at Pemex’ Deer Park refinery was shut down on 5 January according to WoodMac. There has been no update since.
• Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast shut the FCCU No 2, the delayed coker unit 1 and hydrotreater No 4 on 15 January due to freezing temperatures, according to a report from the TCEQ. “The facility took immediate action to stabilize the process units and minimize the flaring to the extent possible”, it said. The refinery shut the 345kbpd VPS-5 crude unit the first week of January and has begun maintenance on the unit 8 January, people familiar with operations said. Works were scheduled to last 45 days.
• Marathon’s Garyville refinery shut the 283kbpd CDU and 149kbpd VCU on 15 Jan according to WoodMac.
• Marathon’s Los Angeles refinery is undergoing planned maintenance since 12 January for one month, shutting the 175kbpd CDU, the 37kbpd CDU and 62kbpd VDU according to Bloomberg.
• Marathon’s Carson refinery shut the 55kbpd hydrocracker on 16 January. A 20kbpd reformer remains shut since 14 Jan. A 175kbpd CDU, 37kbpd CDU and 62kbpd VDU remain shut since 12 Jan according to WoodMac.
• Marathon’s Galveston refinery lowered rates on the residual hydrotreater on 15 January, the firm said in a TCEQ filing.
• Suncor’s Commerce City East refinery in Colorado shut the 34kbpd CDU and 8kbpd VDU on 16 Jan according to Woodmac.
• PBF Energy plans works at the hydrocracker/CDU at its Toledo refinery starting 15 January. Works are expected to last 40-50 days with 172.8kbpd offline according to Bloomberg.
• The firm also plans to shut a CDU this week at its 190kbpd Chalmette refinery according to Reuters sources on Saturday. The 96kbpd Crude 2 CDU is being shut as part of a planned overhaul. The unit is used to process sour crude at the refinery.
• PBF will also shut the FCC at its 171kbpd Delaware City, Delaware, refinery in 1Q for 40-50 days and the 156kbpd Martinez refinery near San Francisco will shut a hydrocracker in 2Q for 40-50 day according to the firm’s guidance.
• Phillips 66 259kbpd Bayway refinery Linden NJ intends to shut its crude unit mid-September for maintenance according to Bloomberg sources. The work has been delayed from Q1 last year and will last about 6-7 weeks.
• Cenovus Energy’s Toledo refinery in Oregon plans to begin shutting units in late September for a multiunit turnaround, people familiar with operations said. Works will last for around 45 days. The maintenance will take at a 55kbpd FCC, 36kbpd coker, sulfur recovery units, crude section and sat gas unit.
• In Canada, normal operations at the Parkland Burnaby refinery are expected to resume this week as warm weather returns. The refinery has been affected by cold weather since Friday with some units down according to spokesman Simon Scott via Bloomberg. All monitored units were shut during the evening of Jan 12 according to Woodmac reports.