Citgo, Phillips 66 advance post-Laura repairs at Lake Charles refineries

Citgo Petroleum Corp. remains on schedule for an October restart of its 425,000-b/d refining complex in Lake Charles, La., following damages to the refinery resulting from high winds caused by Hurricane Laura’s Aug. 27 landfall along the US Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana (OGJ Online, Sept. 1, 2020).

As power gradually is restored to the area, Citgo continues to make critical repairs at the Lake Charles refinery, the operator said on Sept. 23.

Specifically, partial power has been restored to two of the three refinery substations, and with repairs to damaged refinery equipment progressing well, the refinery remains on track for a phased restart of operations with all units returned to service by mid to late-October, Citgo said.

The operator previously said that, while the refinery fared well overall, the complex sustained major damage to most of its cooling towers, minor damage to noncritical tanks, and a large amount of unidentified miscellaneous damage requiring noncritical repairs (OGJ Online, Sept. 11, 2020).

Power supplied via generators at its terminals enabled Citgo’s Lake Charles refinery rack to resume supply of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) to regional customers on Sept. 8.

Phillips 66 update

As of Sept. 14, fellow regional refiner Phillips 66 said it expected its 249,000-b/d Lake Charles refining complex in Westlake, La., to become operational within 2 weeks pending restoration of reliable electricity.

While unidentified repairs required at the site will take at least 3 months, Phillips 66 confirmed the refinery could remain in operation while work is under way.

Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, La., at 1:00 a.m. CST on Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center for the Atlantic region.