Incident Report
Subject: 'Minor asphalt tank fire' mars West Texas oil refinery's reopening Date of Email reporting Incident: Tue 08/04/2008
Report Detail: DALLAS — The West Texas oil refinery closed by an explosion in February reopened at about half-capacity Monday, but part of the Alon USA Energy Inc. plant shut down again after a fire broke out in an asphalt tank. Alon Chief Executive Officer Jeff D. Morris called the fire "minor" and said there were no injuries, but it closed a unit that prepares crude oil for refining into finished products such as gasoline. "We suspended production for a little bit. We're in the process of restarting," Morris said. He said he couldn't give a timetable for when the crude oil unit would be running again. Officials said they didn't know what caused Monday's fire at the refinery in Big Spring, about 300 miles west of Dallas. Earlier Monday, Alon announced it had restarted several parts of the refinery and was producing gasoline, diesel and asphalt. However, the refinery was only operating at 35,000 barrels per day — half its normal capacity. Five people were hurt when an explosion rocked the refinery on Feb. 18, sending black smoke billowing into the sky and closing schools and an interstate highway. The injury count might have been reduced because only 40 people were working on the President's Day holiday instead of the usual crew, which is four times as large, company officials said at the time. Morris said Alon was ahead of its own schedule in returning the refinery to full production and hoped to return another key unit running by mid-July. The company said it had inspected that part of the plant, called a fluid catalytic cracking unit, and wouldn't need to wait for any major replacement equipment. Two other units that are still under repair should return to production after the cracking unit, Morris said. One of those units produces octane for premium gasoline, and the other makes by-products used in plastics. Morris said insurance would cover Alon's cost of repairs, which he declined to estimate. He said about 800 workers have been hired for the reconstruction project — more than four times the refinery's normal work force. The Big Spring refinery is one of four refineries operated by Alon in Texas, California and Oregon. Dallas-based Alon, whose majority owner is Alon Israel Oil Co., earned $104 million last year on revenue of $4.54 billion. The company depends on the refinery for 60 percent of its gross income, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. The company makes and sells petroleum products under the FINA brand in several southern and western states and supplies some 7-Eleven stores. Shares of Alon rose Monday morning but then fell to close lower by 69 cents, or 4.2 percent, at $15.64. Neste Oil puts fire cost at E40 million Neste Oil puts fire cost at E40 million 7th April 2008 By Staff Writer Finnish refiner Neste Oil has estimated the costs in lost production and repairs from a fire at its new diesel production line to be around E40 million. The fire broke out in early April due to a leak in the heat exchanger as the refiner was shutting the line down for maintenance. Neste has said that although maintenance and repair work will be ongoing throughout May, this will not impact upon its petroleum product deliveries. Neste has invested E750 million in the project and the fire at the diesel line in Porvoo is the latest in a series of problems experienced since it opened in June 2007. TORRANCE, Calif. - Fire damaged part of an Exxon Mobil refinery Friday but no one was injured. The blaze erupted at 8:30 a.m. in a unit called the hydrotreater and was extinguished in 20 minutes, said fire Capt. Steve Deuel. Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Prem Nair said the unit was being depressurized and would eventually be shut down for repairs, but the rest of the facility was continuing to operate. The 150,000-barrel-a-day refinery produces a range of products from gasoline to diesel, Nair said from Virginia. "The impact of the refinery operation is expected to be minimal," she said. "We also have six other refineries in the U.S.," she said. "We are not majorly concerned about the fire's impact. We will continue to meet customer needs." No dangerous vapors were released and the blaze was under investigation, with no indication of unusual circumstances, Deuel said. Torrance is in southwest Los Angeles County.
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