US Refinery Maintenance Update Part: 1/2

The latest update on the US refinery maintenance schedule. US outages are projected to peak in February as part of the maintenance season in 1H 2024, analysts at Gibson said.

• Delek’s VP of operations for Brentwood Joseph Israel expects the upcoming refinery maintenance season to be one of the heaviest every with around 1.5mbpd of daily crude processing activity offline during February and mid-March.
• Valero’s Port Arthur refinery began planned maintenance on a large CDU on 15 Jan according to Reuters. In addition to shutting the 210kbpd 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 shut the 100kbpd gasoil hydrotreater and 85kbpd FCC at the Texas City refinery on 25 Jan according to WoodMac.
• Valero shut the 40kbpd catalytic reformer on 28 Jan according to WoodMac.
• TotalEnergies’ 238kbpd Port Arthur refinery in Texas saw increased activity at the FCC on 29 Jan but remained below normal. All units remained shut since 16 after a power loss during the winter storm according to WoodMac.
• ExxonMobil is undergoing planned maintenance at the Beaumont refinery at the 65kbpd hydrocracker and the 75kbpd reformer, 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 Baton Rouge refinery began a planned overhaul on its FCC and hydrocracker on 20 Jan according to Reuters sources. The 116kbpd FCC and 23kbpd hydrocracker are shut for a two-month planned overhaul. Increased activity began on the FCC on 29 Jan but remained below normal according to WoodMac.
• The 67kbpd hydrocracker at Pemex’ Deer Park refinery was shut down on 5 January according to WoodMac. A headline on 16 January on Bloomberg said the refinery reported work activities, citing TCEQ. A 41kbpd gasoil hydrotreater was shut on 28 Jan according to WoodMac.
• 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 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 said it will have planned maintenance at four refineries during 1Q 2024.
• Marathon’s Wilmington refinery in Los Angeles lost power on 22 Jan according to a notice from the California Office of Emergency Services.
• Marathon’s Garyville refinery shut the 80kbpd catalytic reformer on 24 Jan. The 114kbpd hydrocracker shut 16 Jan. the 283kbpd CDU and 149kbpd VDU shut 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 Galveston Bay refinery saw decreased activity at the 55kbpd diesel hydrotreater on 25 Jan. One of the unit’s furnace stacks shut also at the time according to WoodMac. The facility is scheduled to undergo planned maintenance until 23 February according to Bloomberg.
• Suncor’s Commerce City East refinery in Colorado shut the 34kbpd CDU and 8kbpd VDU on 16 Jan according to WoodMac. There has been no update since.
• Citgo’s Corpus Christi refinery saw decreased activity at the 45kbpd ULSD hydrotreater on 19 Jan. One of the unit’s two furnace stacks was also shut according to WoodMac.
• PBF’s Toledo refinery began planned works on the 172.8kbpd hydrocracker/CDU on 15 January. Works are scheduled to last for 40-50 days according to Bloomberg.
• PBF’s Chalmette refinery is undergoing planned works at the CR 2 crude units until 14 February according to Bloomberg.
• 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.
• Placid’s Port Allen refinery had an unplanned outage on 8 Jan, shutting down the FCC, gasoline hydrotreater for around 45 days. The entire plant will slow or shut down during the works according to Bloomberg.