<Sure seems hard to get & keep the new coker additions online last couple years!-CRandall comments>
Sinclair Wyoming Coking Refinery remains Half Capacity due Mar 29 Fire
By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Star-Tribune energy reporter
Saturday, April 11, 2009 2:06 AM MDT
The Sinclair Wyoming refinery near Rawlins will continue to operate at half capacity for about a week following a March 29 fire that forced the shutdown of one catalytic cracking unit.
“We expect to return to normal operations by mid-April,” Sinclair spokesman Clint Ensign said.
At full capacity, the refinery can refine about 83,000 barrels of product per day. The temporary loss of 41,500 barrels per day represents about 24 percent of Wyoming’s refining capacity and isn’t expected to have much of an impact on the local oil and fuels market.
Full inventories and weak demand for gasoline nationwide are keeping prices in check. A recent 238,000-barrels-per-day refining cut because of a fire at a ConocoPhillips refinery in New Jersey also failed to have much of an effect on prices, according to reports.
The Sinclair Wyoming fire began with a small explosion, originating from a heater. No one was injured, according to Sinclair. It forced the shutdown of a catalytic cracking unit and a hydro-desulfurization unit.
Contact energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffertrib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com/DustinBleizeffer/blog.
