Phillips 66’s Lake Charles refining complex nearing restart

Phillips 66 has completed initial damage assessments at its 249,000-b/d Lake Charles refining complex in Westlake, La., as well as other area installations, following Hurricane Delta’s Oct. 9 landfall along the US Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana (OGJ Online, Oct. 12, 2020).

As of Oct. 12, initial inspections at the Lake Charles refining complex, Gulf Coast Lubricants Plant (GCLP), and Lake Charles-area terminals and pipelines indicate minimal damage, but operational restarts will depend on restoration of electricity, Phillips 66 said.

While reliable power remains intact at the Lake Charles refining complex and GCLP, access to electricity at certain of the company’s unidentified midstream assets has yet to be restored.

Phillips 66 said it is currently working closely with its local provider to reinstate necessary power supplies for anticipated operational restarts of all regional assets by the week ending Oct. 17.

Phillips 66 confirmed on Oct. 8 that it undertook a safe and controlled shutdown of process units at the Lake Charles complex on Oct. 7, but was planning to keep utilities at the site online and the refinery staffed with a small ride-out crew during the weather event.

While Phillips 66 in mid-September planned to resume operations at the Lake Charles refining complex by early October pending restoration of reliable electricity following Hurricane Laura’s Aug. 27 landfall as a Category 4 storm in the region, the operator subsequently confirmed that it would temporarily delay the refinery’s complete restart until Hurricane Delta had passed (OGJ Online, Sept. 23, 2020).

Planned maintenance activities brought forward to mid-September from October also remain under way at its 255,000-b/d Alliance refinery on the Mississippi River in Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish, La., about 25 miles southeast of New Orleans, following the refinery’s safe and orderly shutdown ahead of Hurricane Sally, which made landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., on Sept. 16 as a Category 2 storm (OGJ Online, Sept. 16, 2020).

Hurricane Delta made landfall in near Creole, La., at 6:00 p.m. CST on Oct. 9 as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and a minimum central pressure of 970 mb, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.