HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L) 316,600 barrel per day (bpd) joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, was attempting to restart its main gasoline-producing unit on Monday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
The 70,000 bpd fluidic catalytic cracking unit was taken out of production on Wednesday for repairs to a overhead pipeline that was leaking naphtha.
A Shell spokesman said a start-up was underway at the Deer Park refinery, but declined to say which units were involved.
“We have two of our process units in planned start-up mode,” said Shell spokesman Ray Fisher. “There is a possibility of elevated flaring during this start-up. We are taking steps to minimize any flaring. There is no danger to the surrounding community or our industry neighbours.”
The sources said the restart of the FCCU was also affecting the saturated gas plant at the Deer Park refinery.
The refinery is a joint-venture between Shell and Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos [PEMX.UL].
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
