Posted 2:03 pm Saturday, December 13, 2008
November Delek Blast Caused $30 Million In Damage
By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor
The Delek US refinery in Tyler could be making gasoline out of oil as early as May 2009, with aspects of two capital improvement projects moved up from late next year to the first quarter, company officials said Friday in a telephone news conference.
Business Editor
The Delek US refinery in Tyler could be making gasoline out of oil as early as May 2009, with aspects of two capital improvement projects moved up from late next year to the first quarter, company officials said Friday in a telephone news conference.
Delek officials also released new details of the explosion Nov. 20 that closed the plant, claimed two lives and touched off an inferno that took hours to control.
Fred Green, Delek vice president and chief operating officer, said in Friday's conference that the blast, which remains under internal and external investigation, caused $30 million in damage, with insurance paying for all but $5 million of that.
"This has been a difficult and trying time for all of us," Green said.
Portions of the saturates gas plant, naphtha hydrotreater, piping and part of the control room were damaged, he said.
On a more positive note, Green said two capital improvement projects, a $25 million turnaround and a crude optimization project, will be moved up from the fourth quarter of 2009 to early next year.
A turnaround, which takes place about every four years, is a maintenance project. The optimization project, which improves the refinery's ability to process different types of crude, has a total budget of $86 million over three years.
Green also noted that while unlikely, portions of the refinery that the explosion left unscathed could "resume operations sooner, if economically justified."
He noted that an internal probe as well as an OSHA investigation were ongoing at the refinery, which employs about 240 and can refine 60,000 barrels a day.
Ed Morgan, the company's chief financial officer, said during the news conference that Delek has no plans "to reduce our head count while offline."
Noel Ryan of Delek investor relations said the company's Tyler employees will continue to be paid while the facility is offline.
