Statement from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. on Anamet, Inc.'s technical evaluation of piping samples taken from Richmond Refinery

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. has reviewed Anamet, Inc.’s technical evaluation of the piping samples taken from the Chevron U.S.A. Richmond Refinery following the August 6, 2012 incident.

The report concludes that the carbon steel pipe that failed had low-silicon content. This finding is consistent with Chevron U.S.A.’s preliminary observation in its September 2012 Industry Alert that, when exposed to sulfidation-corrosion conditions, carbon steel piping with low-silicon content can corrode at an accelerated rate not readily detected by existing corrosion monitoring locations. As we stated in the Industry Alert, Chevron U.S.A. is inspecting every pipe component in the crude unit susceptible to sulfidation corrosion. Any component found to be unsuitable for service will be replaced before restarting the unit.

We want to be clear that our strong focus is on preventing a similar incident from happening in the future. As we have previously communicated, we are implementing corrective actions that will strengthen management oversight, process safety, mechanical integrity, and leak response.

Our internal investigation of the incident is nearing completion. While we do not agree with some of the characterizations in the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) news release (http://www.csb.gov/newsroom/detail.aspx?nid=457), we are committed to discussing the findings from our investigation and our corrective actions with the investigating agencies prior to release of the report and restart of the crude unit.

For updates or more information please visit http://richmond.chevron.com/home/news/incidentresponse.aspx.