A fire at BP's Cherry Point refinery has closed operations until the end of April 2012.
The plant, the third-largest on the US west coast in Washington State, will remain idle during April after a major fire near the a critical unit at the refinery in mid-February.
BP's Cherry Point refinery Image: BP |
The fire, which was quickly extinguished without any serious injuries, broke out near the site's only crude distillation unit (CDU). The unit breaks down core molecules in the crude before other units complete the refining process for finished fuel products. The fire was apparently caused by residual crude being sprayed out of a pipe flange between a heater and vacuum unit within the CDU.
The CDU is critical to the operation of the 225,000b/d refinery, which supplies nearly 9% of the West Coast's refining capacity, with the plant being immediately shut down after the fire.
Although the other units on site were kept in 'warm standby' mode, to allow BP to purchase feedstock from outside the plant and allow production to continue, the company has now decided to keep the plant idle and start spring maintance early before re-starting operations.