Valero says Memphis main production units shut after fire

Valero Energy Corp. shut all main production units at its Memphis refinery after a fire today that may have damaged at least one of two crude units.

Bill Day, a company spokesman in San Antonio, declined to say whether other units like a hydrotreater were operating. Main units would include the crude units and catalytic crackers.

Day said he doesn’t know why all main production units were stopped. The 25-minute fire was reported in a heater associated with an 80,000-barrel-a-day crude unit, Day said. Valero shut that unit and a nearby 100,000-barrel-a-day crude unit, which will be restarted first.

“Because there are two crude units at Memphis, it’s possible that one crude unit could be restarted fairly quickly,” Day said. All workers at the plant were accounted for and no injuries were reported, he said.

The refinery has a capacity of 195,000 barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It processes primarily light and sweet crude received through the Capline pipeline system and barges, according to the company’s website.