CDU, coker shut by leak at TotalEnergies Texas refinery, sources say

Reuters

Published Mar 11, 2024 03:09PM ET

Updated Mar 12, 2024 01:15AM ET

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) -The coker and small crude distillation unit (CDU) were shut by a leak on the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at TotalEnergies (EPA:TTEF)' 238,000 barrel per day Port Arthur, Texas refinery, people familiar with plant operations said.

The 40,000-bpd ACU-2 CDU and 60,000-bpd coker are expected to be shut for one to two days while a clamp is fabricated to fix the leak on the 76,000-bpd FCC, the sources said on Monday.

Company spokesperson Marie Maitre declined to comment on Monday.

The FCC was shut for a three-month overhaul that ended in late November. It struggled to resume full production until being hit by a plantwide power outage on Jan. 16. The refinery returned to normal production by Feb. 21 following the outage.

TotalEnergies reported that two sulfur recovery units malfunctioned on March 7, according to a notice to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

ACU-2 is the smaller of two CDUs that begin the refining process by breaking down crude oil into feedstocks for all other units at the refinery.