P. M. BRIEFING : Month to Repair Exxon Refinery
Exxon Corp. said today that the damage caused by the Christmas Eve explosion at its Baton Rouge, La., refinery that helped trigger a spiral in U.S. heating oil prices will be in full operation by mid-February.
The refinery “is expected to return to normal operations by mid-February,” the Exxon statement said. The plant returned to 50% of output last weekend.
The shutdown of Exxon’s second-largest refinery with a daily production of 455,000 barrels played a role in the escalation of heating oil prices that followed the Christmas freeze, which closed other refineries on the normally warm U.S. Gulf Coast.
The American Petroleum Institute said the nation’s refinery output dropped 11% in the week that followed the accident and freeze.
Exxon has said the explosion, which destroyed an area the size of a football field, may have been caused by the unusually cold weather.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
