ExxonMobil investigating fire at Gravenchon refinery

ExxonMobil Corp.’s majority held Esso SA Francaise (SAF) has yet to determine the cause of a fire that broke out on Mar. 11 at the operator’s integrated 231,800 b/d Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon refining platform in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, Normandy, in northern France.

The fire, which erupted at 3:25 p.m. local time on Mar. 11 at a distillation unit of the refinery, was quickly contained and subsequently extinguished by an on-site team by 4:00 a.m. the following morning, at which time the manufacturing platform’s internal emergency operation plan also was lifted, Esso SAF said on Mar. 12.

While Esso SAF confirmed the refinery is currently mobilized to supply customers, the operator said it remains unable to provide information regarding what caused the fire or the extent of damage resulting from the incident.

Of five employees injured during the event, only one remained under observation at a local hospital as of 11:30 a.m. on Mar. 12, Esso SAF said.

The operator said it is continuing to work with relevant authorities and emergency services to assess the situation as well as determine necessary means to be implemented for repairs.

As of Nov. 30, 2023, the Gravenchon refinery began manufacturing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via co-processing of renewable feedstock such as vegetable oils, fats, and waste oils with crude oil in existing units at the site in line with the refinery’s goal of producing more than 160,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of low-carbon fuels—including SAF—by 2025, according to a Dec. 5, 2023, release from Esso SAF.

While Esso SAF did not reveal a current volume of SAF production at Gravenchon, the operator said co-processing activities at the refinery—which began in May 2022—form part of ExxonMobil’s broader global ambition to deliver about 2 million tpy of low-emission fuels by 2025 and 11 million tpy by 2030.

Fos-sur-Mer refinery operations update

The Gravenchon refinery fire follows Esso SAF’s Mar. 8 confirmation that it began the process of restarting units taken offline on Jan. 20 as part of a major scheduled maintenance shutdown at the operator’s 126,350-b/d Fos-sur-Mer integrated refinery in the Bouches-du-Rhône region of southern France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Unidentifed units involved in the routine maintenance event—which also involved works to improve the refinery’s energy efficiency, as well as thermal integration projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the site as part of the operator’s decarbonization strategy—are slated to return to full, normal operations by Mar. 18, Esso SAF said.