(Updates with company saying Deer Park shut; details on
outages, situation in the refinery, background on units,
refinery)
HOUSTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc
shut its 318,000 barrel-per-day joint-venture Deer Park, Texas,
refinery because of severe cold weather, the company said on
Tuesday.
The company's adjoining chemical plant was also shut.
"Shell’s Deer Park facility has shut down due to
unprecedented weather in the region," the company said in an
email. "As a result, flaring is expected to increase in the near
term. There is no threat to the surrounding community and we
continue to contribute power to the regional grid by way of our
cogeneration facilities."
Shell shut the two primary fuel production units, the
gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) and the
diesel-producing hydrocracker, on Monday, one day after the
refinery’s crude distillation units (CDUs) were shut by a
malfunction, said sources familiar with plant operations.
The 70,000-bpd DU-1 CDU 240,000-bpd DU-2 CDU were shut after
a seal failed on a pump that provides feedstock for other units,
the sources said.
The 70,000-bpd FCC and 67,000-bpd hydrocracker were shut on
Monday due to severe cold weather that came into the region on
Sunday night, according to the sources.
The CDUs, FCC and hydrocracker were among 12 units that had
shut by Monday morning at the Deer Park refinery, which
currently has limited water supply, the sources said.
The CDUs break down crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks
for all other production units at the refinery.
FCCs use a fine powder catalyst to convert gas oil to
unfinished gasoline.
Hydrocrackers use a catalyst in the presence of hydrogen
under high heat and pressure to convert gas oil or heavy oil
into diesel and other motor fuels.
The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint venture between
Shell and Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's
national oil company. Shell is the managing partner.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Dan Grebler)
