Houston — Both crude distillation units (CDUs) and two vacuum distillation units (VDUs) shut down on Thursday at TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) 238,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas refinery, sources familiar with plant operations said.
The units, which convert crude oil into feedstock for all other units at the refinery, were shut following a malfunction on the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC), the sources said.
TotalEnergies spokesperson Marie Maitre declined to comment on refinery operations.
The 150,000-bpd ACU-1 CDU and 40,000-bpd ACU-2, as well as the 51,000-bpd VDU-1 and 60,000-bpd VDU-2, were shut after a malfunction on the 76,000-bpd FCC-2, the sources said.
In a notice filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Thursday, the company said the malfunction began Wednesday afternoon and continued till Thursday morning, during which steam use and production were reduced.
TotalEnergies also told the state pollution regulator FCC-2 had returned to normal operation.
FCC-2 has struggled to reach full production since completing a three-month overhaul in late November, sources have said.
ACU-2 and VDU-1 remained shut into mid-December as FCC-2 was raising its production level.
The FCC-2 overhaul included replacement of the 1.3-million-pound (589.7 metric-ton) reactor on the unit.
*Erwin Seba; editing: Michael Perry & Neil Fullick – Reuters
