Exxon Mobil Restarts FCCU at Beaumont Refinery Following Power Outage

Exxon Mobil Corp completed the restart on Wednesday of the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 369,024-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Beaumont, Texas, sources familiar with plant operations said.

The 120,000-bpd FCC and a 75,000-bpd reformer were shut on Monday by a power outage that hit several units on the north side of the refinery, the sources said. Exxon began restarting the FCC on Tuesday.

Exxon spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry declined to comment.

In addition to the FCC and reformer, two hydrotreaters, another reformer, and a power plant were knocked out of production by the power outage, the sources said.

Reformers convert refining byproducts into components that boost octane in gasoline. Hydrotreaters use hydrogen to remove sulfur from gasoline in compliance with U.S. environmental laws. FCCs use a fine powder catalyst to convert gas oil into gasoline. There is only one FCC at the Beaumont refinery.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Peter Cooney)