Exxon Reports Unit Shutdown at Baytown, Texas, Refinery

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) reported an unscheduled shutdown over the weekend of a pipe still, or distillation unit, at its Baytown, Texas, refinery, but said the impact to production was minimal.

"Unplanned shutdown of PS-8 [Pipe Still 8] resulted in a safe utilization of the flare system," the refinery said in a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "Unit was returned to service and operational adjustments were made to eliminate residual material."

Exxon said the shutdown led to above-normal emissions that began Saturday and ended Sunday.

"There is minimal impact to production," it said. "We expect to meet our contractual commitments."

The 561,000-barrel-a-day Baytown refinery, located 25 miles east of Houston, is the nation's second-largest refinery after Saudi Aramco's 600,000-barrel-a-day Motiva Port Arthur refinery.

Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 11, 2017 08:10 ET (13:10 GMT)