Exxon's Texas refinery shuts large crude unit to repair leak

[HOUSTON] Exxon Mobil Corp shut the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery on Wednesday, said sources familiar with plant operations.

Also, Exxon restarted the 65,000-bpd hydrocracker on Wednesday after finishing a two-month multi-unit overhaul that also included the 80,000 bpd reformer, which restarted last week, the sources said.

Exxon spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry declined to discuss the status of individual units at the Beaumont refinery, but said the company continues to meet its contractual commitments.

Exxon plans to repair the leak around a clamp on the 240,000 bpd Crude B CDU, the sources said. A timeline for restarting Crude B had not been determined by early Wednesday morning.

The two CDUs at the Beaumont refinery do the primary refining of crude oil into feedstock for all production units. The smaller Crude A CDU remains in operation.

The hydrocracker is expected to be at full production by Thursday. The unit produces motor fuels, primarily diesel, by processing gas oil in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst under high heat and pressure.

The reformer converts refining by-products into octane-boosting components blended into gasoline.

REUTERS