(Adds company statement, background)
HOUSTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The 70,000 barrel per day (bpd)gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit was shut atRoyal Dutch Shell Plc's joint-venture 327,000 bpd DeerPark, Texas refinery, sources familiar with operations at therefinery said on Monday.
The sources said it had not been determined how long theunit would be shut, but trade sources said research company IIRinitially reported the outage and that it would last up to twomonths.
Shell spokeswoman Destin Singleton said in a statement sentvia email that a unit broke down at the Deer Park refinery onSaturday and was undergoing repairs. She declined to identifythe unit or say how long the repairs were expected to last.
The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint venture betweenShell and Mexico's national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos(PEMEX). (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and GunnaDickson)