PBF Restarts Some Units at Martinez Refinery; Units Damaged in February Fire Remain Shut

PBF Energy Inc. ("PBF") has begun restarting several refinery process units at its Martinez, California, facility, which were taken offline after a fire broke out in February. The company anticipates the process of bringing these units back online will take approximately two weeks.

However, PBF clarified that any units that were damaged in the February fire, including the catalytic gas plant and catalytic feed hydrotreater, will remain shut until the fourth quarter of this year.

On February 1, a fire broke out near the refinery's 77,500-bpd catalytic feed hydrotreater, which plays a critical role, utilizing hydrogen to remove sulfur from gas oil to make unfinished gasoline in the 70,000-bpd catalytic cracker.

PBF said its investigation team is actively working to identify the root cause of the fire. The company anticipates completing its investigation and releasing its findings by the end of the month.