UPDATE 1-Exxon L.A.-area refinery FCC shut – sources
Tue, Dec 2 2008, 17:41 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

HOUSTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) – A power interruption Monday morning shut the 100,000-barrel-per-day gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 150,000 bpd Los Angeles-area refinery, sources familiar with refinery operations said on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the refinery in Torrance, California, declined to discuss which units remained shut on Tuesday.

Exxon spokeswoman Aarti Ramachandran said the refinery expected to be able to meet its contractual commitments with supply on hand.

West Coast refined products traders said they were not seeing any price movement Tuesday for gasoline blended to meet California’s strict environmental standards, leading to expectations the refinery’s problems would be easily overcome.

Los Angeles wholesale gasoline for December delivery finished in a bid-offer spread on Monday of 8 cents/5 cents under January NYMEX RBOB gasoline.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Walter Bagley)