((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
*
Texas refineries report malfunctions due to frozen equipment
*
Some refineries are carrying out planned overhauls for months
(Adds oil and gasoline prices in paragraphs 7-8) by Erwin Seba
A severe winter storm shut down a U.S. Gulf Coast refinery in Texas on Tuesday, caused malfunctions at other refineries and cut North Dakota’s oil production in half, as it dumped snow and rain on much of the nation.
TotalEnergies TTEF.PA 238,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, was examining units after a plant-wide power outage Tuesday morning as a winter storm brought freezing temperatures to the U.S. Gulf Coast, sources familiar with the company’s operations said.
North Dakota’s oil production fell by half on Tuesday due to extreme cold and operational problems, the state’s pipeline authority said.
Oil production fell by 600,000 to 650,000 barrels per day, according to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.
Exxon Mobil Corp which crossed the region during the night from Monday to Tuesday.
Flint Hills Resources said its 343,000 bpd Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery was heavily impacted by the unusual cold, particularly at the West plant, where instruments to operate equipment were affected by freezing rain overnight.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures settling at $72.40 a barrel, down 28 cents, or 0.4%. Brent oil futures LCOc1, the global benchmark, rose 14 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $78.29 a barrel.
RBOB gasoline fell 24 cents to $2.1195 a gallon. Markets are considered well-stocked, with refiners holding large fuel stocks.
INTERVIEW
Valero Energy Corp VLO.N on Monday began a planned overhaul on the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 335,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery, people familiar with plant operations said Tuesday.
In addition to shutting down the AVU-146 CDU (210,000 bpd), Valero decommissioned a coking unit and a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) associated with AVU-146, the sources said. The work is expected to last 45 days.
Units at half of Valero’s Port Arthur refinery will be affected by the shutdown of AVU-146, which is the larger of two CDUs that begin the refining process by breaking down crude oil into feedstocks for all other units of the refinery.
Three Port Arthur refineries, including the 626,000 bpd Motiva Enterprises plant, the nation’s largest refinery, have major units idled. The Motiva refinery began an overhaul of the crude coking unit on January 8.
In a regulatory filing, Marathon Petroleum Corp
MPC.N reported a disruption Monday in the 64,000 bpd residual hydrotreater at its Galveston Bay refinery (593,000 bpd) in Texas City, Texas. The unit is returning to normal operation later in the day Monday.
Delek DK.N reported a malfunction due to cold temperatures on Sunday at its 73,000 bpd refinery in Big Spring, Texas.
Valero notified regulators Sunday after disruptions at its 195,000 bpd McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas, which is north of Amarillo, Texas.
On Tuesday, Valero informed residents near its 210,000 bpd Houston refinery that it may need to use the plant’s safety flare system to manage excess materials.
Refineries use safety flares when they cannot process hydrocarbons normally.