Two Dead in Total Refinery Explosion in Belgium

An explosion at a refinery in Antwerp, Belgium operated by France’s Total SA on 19 November has killed two subcontractors.

The explosion occurred in a steam system of a gas-producing unit during maintenance operations at the 338,000-barrel-per-day refinery, according to a statement from Total.

The refinery was evacuated and partially shut down, and Total claims that no hydrocarbons were released into the atmosphere as a result. According to Total, there was no ensuing fire following the explosion and only steam has been released into the atmosphere.

 

"As a consequence of the explosion, a part of the installations are stopped, and the emergency plan of the refinery has been activated," Total said.  The identities of the two subcontractors killed in the explosion have not been released, while a third person earlier reported missing has now been found.
The port in Antwerp remains open to shipping traffic despite the incident.

The Total refinery is among Europe’s largest, with an annual capacity of 17 million metric tons of crude oil and analysts do not expect the shutdown to have a significant impact on the market or European supplies.  Total is investing $1.35 billion in the Antwerp refinery to boost diesel-making capacity and cut costs, according to Reuters.  Shares in Total were down 0.93% by 1618 GMT (around two hours after the explosion), but this drop is in line with a 1.1% decline in the French CAC 40 blue-chip index, the news agency noted.

Los Angeles Gasoline Surges as Tesoro Said to Plan Unit Repairs

Los Angeles gasoline gained to its highest level against futures in almost two weeks after Tesoro Corp. (TSO) was said to be planning repairs on a unit at its Southern California refinery in January.
The fuel advanced after Tesoro was said to plan maintenance on the hydrocracker in the Wilmington, California, section of its 363,000-barrel-a-day Los Angeles complex, according to two people familiar with the schedule. The work is expected to last six weeks, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in Los Angeles jumped 5 cents against futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a premium of 2 cents a gallon at 5:19 p.m. East Coast time, its highest level since Nov. 12, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Retail gasoline in California slipped 0.1 cent to $3.561 a gallon, according to Heathrow, Florida-based AAA.  Tina Barbee, a Tesoro spokeswoman at the company’s headquarters in San Antonio, declined by e-mail to comment on the maintenance.

Carbob in San Francisco gained 1 cent against futures to a discount of 11.5 cents. The fuel had weakened earlier today after Tesoro’s 170,000-barrel-a-day Golden Eagle refinery in Northern California reported a “major unit” startup. The plant was also changing out a different unit, the company said in a filing with county regulators today.

The Golden Eagle refinery is performing planned maintenance, Barbee said.
The 3-2-1 crack spread of Alaska North Slope crude, Carbob in Los Angeles and state-grade diesel in Los Angeles, an indicator of refining profitability in the western U.S., narrowed $1.93 a barrel, or 15 percent, to $10.60 at 4:10 p.m.New York time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, the lowest since Oct. 2.