Motiva, Exxon Mobil, Marathon and others begin the process of restarting
https://www.bicmagazine.com/departments/operations/refineries-begin-restart/FEBRUARY 22, 2021
Refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast began rapidly restarting following last week’s winter storm that shut down the state’s fuel processing and petrochemical industries with the lowest freezing temperatures in a generation, as reported by Reuters.
The freeze knocked out power for millions of Texans and idled nearly a quarter of national refining capacity. The storm’s effect on refining rivaled that of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, but also brought the added problems of freezing natural gas and water lines that will make it harder for facilities to restart safely.
The largest U.S. refinery, Motiva Enterprises 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur plant, filed a notice with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) of plans to begin a 17-day restart on Monday.
Sources familiar with operations said the refinery must repair water pipes throughout the plant that froze and cracked when temperatures dropped well below freezing a week ago.
Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 585,000-bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, restarted the co-generation unit, which produces power and steam, said sources familiar with plant operations. Process lines, fittings and water pipes throughout the refinery need repair, the sources said....
