EXCLUSIVE-Diesel hydrotreater, control room destroyed in March Valero Port Arthur refinery blast, sources say
By Erwin Seba
No injuries were reported following the explosion that set off the March 23 fire on the Unit 245 47,000-bpd diesel hydrotreater, Valero and law enforcement officials said.
Valero has been working to put together a temporary control room to enable a restart of the 45,000-bpd Unit 245 gasoline Gulfiner hydrotreater, the sources said. The unit is one of four hydrotreaters run by the control room destroyed in the fire, they added.
The other two remaining hydrotreaters are an 18,500-bpd kerosene hydrotreater and a 30,000-bpd jet fuel hydrotreater, the sources said.
Repairs to the control room are expected to take several weeks.
It was unknown how long it might take to rebuild the diesel hydrotreater.
Valero's Port Arthur refinery is considered to be highly complex because it can convert high-sulfur, high-density heavy, sour crude oil into motor fuels that meet U.S. environmental standards for low-sulfur content. The explosion happened just as consumers have been contending with higher prices for motor fuels amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The refinery accounts for 3.7% of refining capacity in the U.S. Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, but produces 6.1% of distillates in those same states.
