Valero progresses Port Arthur refinery restart after March fire

Valero Energy Corp. has partially restarted operations at its 380,000-b/d refinery in Port Arthur, Tex., after a late-March explosion and subsequent fire at the site, according to a Reuters report citing sources familiar with plant operations.

One crude distillation unit (CDU), the 115,000-b/d AVU 147, has resumed production, with the second CDU—the 210,000-b/d AVU-146—still offline as of Apr. 16 amid ongoing repairs to a damaged heater tube identified during post-incident inspections, according to Reuters.

The March 23 incident, which occurred “after an unforeseeable release of process fluid in the [refinery’s] diesel hydrotreater (DHT-243) resulted in an ignition event and multiple process unit upsets,” resulted in shutdown of multiple processing units at the site,” according to a final air emission event report issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued on Apr. 4.

To date, Valero has remained silent publicly on the mid-March explosion and operational status of the refinery, but an update on the Port Arthur situation will likely be forthcoming when the company announces first-quarter 2026 earnings results on Apr. 30.

As of early April, a formal investigation into the incident was still ongoing, TCEQ said.

In a sobering coincidence, the Mar. 23 explosion at Valero’s Port Arthur complex happened to occur on the 21st anniversary of the BP Texas City refinery disaster in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others.

Associated litigation

While the explosion and accompanying fire at the Port Arthur refinery did not result in any officially reported injuries, at least one lawsuit has been filed against Valero and its operating subsidiary alleging negligence, gross negligence, nuisance, and trespass against Valero in the wake of the blast.

On Apr. 20, Brent Coon & Associates (BC&A)—a Beaumont-based law firm representing residents and property owners affected by the explosion—confirmed via an e-mailed statement that the 136th Judicial District Court of Jefferson County, Tex., on Apr. 17 entered an agreed protective order compelling Valero and its affiliate, Valero Refining Texas LP to preserve all evidence related to the March explosion and fire.

The protective order—which identifies the blast “originating in or around the [refinery’s DHT-243’s gas fractionation unit] GFU-243 hydrotreating unit”—places Valero under binding court order to preserve an extensive range of evidence, including:

• Five years of inspection, maintenance, and operational records for the GFU-243 hydrotreating unit.
• All control room data, alarm logs, distributed control system records, and communications existing at the time of the explosion.
• All equipment records for the 14-day period preceding the incident.
• Video surveillance footage, sensor data, and alarm records from the refinery.
• Personnel files and training records for all employees involved in GFU-243 operations.
• All communications with governmental agencies including the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), and TCEQ.
• All physical pipe and equipment components from the GFU-243 unit, including piping connected to the F-303 high-pressure separator vessel believed to be at or near the origin of the release that ignited.

The law firm said the order also requires Valero to implement a comprehensive litigation hold suspending all document retention, destruction, or recycling policies, and to preserve all electronically stored information in its native format, including associated metadata.

To date, two critical physical components have already been removed and legally preserved from the GFU-243 unit with OSHA approval and in the presence of plaintiffs’ experts.

Currently secured in a locked container at the refinery and scheduled for transfer to a climate-controlled laboratory for metallurgical analysis and further inspection by all parties, these components include an 8-in. pipe section and a 3-in. valve assembly, both from the high-pressure separator believed to have been at or near the point of the release, according to BC&A.

On Apr. 8 and Apr. 15, respectively, plaintiffs’ experts also conducted two formal site inspections of the GFU-243 hydrotreater, control room, and surrounding areas, with the right to conduct additional inspections preserved under the recent order, the firm said.

Alongside Valero’s presumably ongoing internal investigation, BC&A said OSHA, EPA, CSB, and TCEQ are also actively engaged in investigation and remediation activities related to the incident.

“From the moment this explosion occurred, our primary concern has been making sure that the evidence needed to establish what happened—and who is responsible—is protected,” said Brent Coon, founder of BC&A.

“This order puts Valero under a binding legal obligation to preserve everything, and it ensures that our experts have access to the evidence necessary to get answers for the victims and their families,” Coon added.