TWO U.S. REFINERIES AIM FOR RETURN TO FULL TILT

Jan. 22, 1990
Two damaged refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast were struggling to return to full operations last week. Phillips 66 Co. said damage resulting from a Jan. 6 explosion has reduced crude throughput and is affecting some processing units at its Sweeny, Tex., refinery and petrochemical complex. Exxon Co., U.S.A. expects its 455,000 b/d Baton Rouge, La., refinery to return to normal operation by mid-February. Exxon shut down the plant following a Dec. 24, 1989, explosion and fire (OGJ, Jan. 1, p. 29).

Two damaged refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast were struggling to return to full operations last week.

Phillips 66 Co. said damage resulting from a Jan. 6 explosion has reduced crude throughput and is affecting some processing units at its Sweeny, Tex., refinery and petrochemical complex.

Exxon Co., U.S.A. expects its 455,000 b/d Baton Rouge, La., refinery to return to normal operation by mid-February. Exxon shut down the plant following a Dec. 24, 1989, explosion and fire (OGJ, Jan. 1, p. 29). A chemical plant is also running at reduced rates.

SWEENY PROBLEMS

Phillips said an explosion that slightly injured one worker damaged a control room facility that serves an olefins unit and isopentane unit.

The company expects the olefins unit to be out of operation until early March. The complex's ethylene deliveries will not be cut because other olefins units continue to operate.

Product also is available from inventory.

Damage from the accident is affecting other processing units at the Sweeny complex. Phillips reduced crude throughput to 160,000 b/d from 180,000 b/d.

Sweeny's cyclohexane unit has been shut down since Jan. 6 due to the incident. Workers were charging feed to the unit Jan. 17 to return it to 4,500 b/d, about 75% of capacity. The unit is to reach capacity by March when the olefins unit restarts.

EXXON'S SCHEDULE

Exxon's Baton Rouge refinery returned to about 50% of normal operations about 2 weeks after the Dec. 24 explosion and fire.

Facilities damaged in late December are being rebuilt.

Maintenance and improvements scheduled for later will be carried out during the next few weeks. Exxon and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident.

Exxon Chemical Co.'s Baton Rouge plant, which gets most of its feedstock from the refinery, is running at partial capacity and will return to normal operations with the refinery.

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