Oil refiner Tesoro Corp. said Wednesday it would delay the startup of its Golden Eagle refinery’s key fluid catalytic cracker due to a mechanical problem.
Planned maintenance will be extended through mid-March.
Throughput at the refinery is now expected to average 105,000 to 115,000 barrels per day in the first quarter. According to Tesoro’s Web site, the refinery located near Martinez, Calif., has capacity to refine 166,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
A fluid catalytic cracker is used to refine crude oil into gasoline and other petroleum products.
The cracker unit was restarted on Feb. 26 but a mechanical failure took the unit out of commission on March 3. Tesoro expects the maintenance to be finished around March 16.
Tesoro shares rose 42 cents to $92.19 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
