* Startup of revamped CDU had been planned for late May
* Problems with equipment on the CDU led to delay -sources (Adds BP comment in paragraph 3.)
By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, May 29 (Reuters) - BP Plc expects to startan upgraded crude distillation unit at its 405,000 barrel perday (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery in late June instead oflate May, when the company had previously planned to return theCDU to production, sources familiar with refinery operationssaid on Wednesday.
The start-up has been delayed due to problems with motorsand pumps among other equipment on the rebuilt 260,000 bpd CDU,the sources said.
A BP spokesman said the Whiting refinery project remains onscheduled for completion in the second half of the year.
Sources had previously told Reuters the startup of the CDU,called Pipestill 12, would likely miss the late May target andtake place in June.
BP shut Pipestill 12 in November as part of a $4 billionupgrade to revamp the refinery to process 350,000 bpd in crudefrom Canada's tar sands oil fields in Alberta. Currently therefinery can process 80,000 bpd in Canadian crude.
The Pipestill 12 upgrade is the centerpiece of the projectand the sources have said BP is willing to move slowly with theunit's return to prevent mishaps that could damage the CDU.Problems with equipment on new or significantly overhauledrefinery units are not uncommon. A leak of a chemical into a newcrude distillation unit last year at Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur, Texas, refinery led to months ofrepairs.
A 100,000 bpd coking unit associated with Pipestill 12 isexpected also to restart in late June, the sources said. Thatunit's return has been expected in June or July.
Flaring seen at the refinery on Wednesday by energy industryintelligence service Genscape was not due to a start-up attempt,the sources said.
Two other crude distillation units at the Whiting refineryhave continued to operate while Pipestill 12 is being revamped.
The Whiting upgrade is part of BP's U.S. refining strategyto focus on plants that have easier access to cheaper Canadiancrude. BP has sold a refinery in Texas and the sale of anotherrefinery in California is expected to close in early June.
A crude distillation unit does the initial refining of crudeoil coming into the refinery and provides feed to all otherunits. A coking unit increases the amount of refinable materialobtained from a barrel of oil and converts residual crude oilinto petroleum coke, a coal substitute. (Editing by Matthew Lewis and Marguerita Choy)