(Adds details about current outage, two previous outages,
background on refinery)
HOUSTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Repairs to Royal Dutch Shell
Plc's 318,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park, Texas,
refinery damaged by severe cold weather are planned to last
until April, sources familiar with plant operations said on
Tuesday.
"Deer Park is still being assessed for a potential return to
safe operations," said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith. "No
timeline has been assigned for a full restart of the facility."
Refinery production may remain shut until the repairs are
completed, the sources said. Shell is still determining a
timeline for repairs.
Shell shut the refinery's two crude distillation units
(CDUs) because of a malfunction on Feb. 14 before freezing
temperatures hit the Gulf Coast on Feb. 15.
The 70,000-bpd DU-1 CDU was shut first, followed by the
240,000-bpd DU-2 CDU, sources told Reuters on Feb. 14. The CDUs
were shut because a seal failed on a pump that provides
feedstock for other units.
Shell restarted the 70,000-bpd gasoline-producing fluidic
catalytic cracker (FCC) on Feb. 11 following repairs after a
Jan. 11 breakdown in the unit's expander, sources told Reuters
at the time.
The CDUs break down crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks
for all other production units at the refinery.
The FCC uses a fine powder catalyst to convert gas oil into
unfinished gasoline.
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 Jonathan Oatis and Richard
Chang)