Some US oil refineries restore production after winter storm

The refineries of United States oil They were working Tuesday to resume operations at a dozen facilities that were put out of service by a Christmas frost, a recovery that in some cases will take until January.

An arctic gust caused temperatures well below freezing and loss of power, instrumentation, and steam at facilities off the US coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The affected plants process some 3.58 million barrels of oil per day, which supply approximately 20% of US fuels.

Retail gasoline prices rose this week on the Gulf Coast, but domestic values ​​have not been affected by the temporary disruptions.

Most of the affected plants suffered minor damage. Temperatures dropped to minus 8 degrees Celsius on the Gulf Coast, freezing some instruments and overloading steam and cogeneration units at several facilities, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Two Houston-area plants — the Motiva Enterprises complex in Port Arthur and the Petróleos Mexicanos complex in Deer Park — will restart in the first week or two of January, according to notices filed with the state and people familiar with the operations.

Spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment.

“We’ll be up and running in about two weeks,” barring startup interruptions, according to a person involved in the restarts. “This freeze has been much milder than the one in February (2021), so I expect a quick recovery,” he added.

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