Marathon Petroleum Partially Closing Louisiana Oil Refinery Due to Fire
26 August 2023 - 6:43AM
Dow Jones News
Marathon Petroleum said it is shutting some of the units at its
Garyville, La., refinery as it works to fully extinguish a fire
that broke out Friday morning.
The partial shutdown of the refinery, which at nearly 600,000
barrels a day of crude-refining capacity makes it one of the
nation's largest refineries, is causing gasoline and diesel fuel
prices to trade sharply higher in futures markets. Diesel futures
settled 4.8% higher Friday at $3.31 a gallon, the highest closing
price since Jan. 26.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the facility began a shutdown
process of units closest to the fire this morning," Marathon said
in an emailed statement. "As the fire-suppression efforts continue
to progress, facility operations will continue to be evaluated,
with safety as our top priority."
The fire broke out in an area where crude oil and fuels are
stored in massive, circular tanks. Local television footage showed
two of the huge tanks fully engulfed in fire, with flames and thick
black smoke shooting several stories into the air while two water
cannons within the plant tried to douse the flames.
A cause of the fire is unknown, but Marathon said an
investigation is under way. An earlier statement from the refinery
indicated there was also a leak of naphtha, a flammable liquid
hydrocarbon mixture, but it isn't clear if that had anything to
with causing the fire.
"The fire is currently under control and has remained within the
common containment-dike area of two tanks on the refinery's
property," it said, noting the fire isn't out completely yet. "Both
tanks have sustained damage."
Marathon said one firefighter was being evaluated for heat
stress, but reported no other injuries.
As a precaution, St. John the Baptist Parish required its
residents living within a two-mile radius of the part of the
refinery closest to the fire to temporarily evacuate to locations
made available by the Parish.
The Garyville refinery is located along the Mississippi River in
southeastern Louisiana between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and
according to Marathon's website, the plant has a crude-oil refining
capacity of 596,000 barrels per calendar day.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 25, 2023 16:28 ET (20:28 GMT)
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