BP Shut Cat Cracker Feeder Unit at Indiana Refinery (Update2)By Aaron Clark and Paul Burkhardt
Sept. 18, 2009 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc shut a catalytic-cracker feeder at its
refinery in Whiting, Indiana, the fourth-largest in the U.S., yesterday for repairs,
strengthening spot gasoline prices in Chicago.
There was a pressure buildup in a cat feed unit, Rob Elstro, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said in an e-mail. Pressure was released through a flare at the facility and the unit was shut down, he said.
Scott Dean, a spokesman for BP, said in an e-mail that the company had no comment on day-to-day operations.
The downed cat cracker feed unit at the Whiting refinery is very directly responsible for strengthening spot gasoline prices in Chicago, said Lewis Adam, president of ADMO Energy LLC, a supply consultant in Kansas City, Missouri. Thats what caused gasoline to move up, he said.
The premium to futures for conventional 87-octane gasoline in Chicago strengthened 0.75 cent to 2.5 cents a gallon at 2:34 p.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The prompt-delivery price fell 1.37 cents to $1.855 a gallon.
Hydrotreater Restart
The cat cracker feeder unit, also known as a hydrotreater, removes sulfur, metal and other impurities from refined products so they can burn more cleanly.
BP Plc will likely restart the hydrotreater early next week, according to a person familiar with the plants operations. The refinery has a capacity of 405,000 barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Exxon Mobil Corp. said operations at its Joliet, Illinois, refinery have returned to normal after a fluid catalytic cracker was shut for repairs Sept. 15. The FCC and all associated units have resumed normal operations, said Kevin Allexon, a company spokesman, in an e-mail.
Marathon Oil Corp. also restarted units at its Robinson, Illinois, refinery after a brief power outage on Sept. 14, according to Linda Casey, a company spokeswoman.
To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net; Paul Burkhardt in New York at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net
