The French company TotalEnergies has shut down its refinery in Texas (Port Arthur), just a few days after resuming operations following a power outage in mid-January. The facility, with a processing capacity of 238,000 barrels per day (bpd), suspended its activities last week, just two days after it resumed operations, according to people familiar with the refinery’s operations.
The reason for the closure of the Texas refinery
It was learned that the company faced difficulties in restarting the refinery’s coker and reformer after the outage. The coker, with a capacity of 60,000 bpd, and the reformer, capable of processing 35,000 barrels per day, are crucial components for the refinery’s operation.
It is important to note that coker units transform residual crude oil into engine fuel or petroleum coke. petroleum cokewhich can be used as a substitute for coal. On the other hand, reformers modify refining by-products into octane-boosting components used to produce high-quality gasoline.
Prior to the January 16 outage, the Port Arthur refinery had to shut down its two crude distillation units and its two vacuum distillation units due to a failure in the gasoline production unit.
Another major U.S. refining complex, BP’s Whiting, Indiana refinery, which is the largest in the Midwest, also recently suffered an outage and will remain closed for three weeks. This facility must undergo inspections before it can resume operations, and if problems are discovered, the shutdown could be extended.
About the Port Arthur Refinery
Port Arthur represents one of TotalEnergies’ main refining and petrochemical platforms. Aiming to expand its U.S. petrochemical operations and increase its market share, the company invested in 2017 to significantly increase its ethylene production capacity using abundant and inexpensive U.S. ethane.
The Port Arthur complex has a refining capacity of 185,000 barrels per day and a total processing capacity of 238,000 barrels per day. It also has a steam cracker, operated through a joint venture with BASF, with a capacity of 1 million tons per year.
Earlier this week, TotalEnergies reported earnings of $5.2 billion in the last quarter of 2023, down 31% from the last quarter of 2022, falling short of analysts’ expectations.
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