[StBernard] Chalmette to Shut Coker, Hydrocracker, Official Says

[Westley Annis]

Chalmette to Shut Coker, Hydrocracker, Official Says (Update1)
2010-08-27 18:33:53.327 GMT


     (Updates with company comment in fourth paragraph. Run
{BMAP 30981<GO>} to locate refinery.)

By Aaron Clark
     Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. will shut a coker
and hydrocracker at its Chalmette refinery in Louisiana, Wayne
J. Landry, council chairman of St. Bernard Parish, said today in
a telephone interview.
     The refinery will halt production of jet fuel and some
“boutique” fuels, said Landry, who said he met with Exxon
officials in the last few days. Exxon hopes the reconfiguration
plan will place the refinery among the top 25 percent most
efficient plants, he said.
     Exxon will stop operating some units at the Chalmette
refinery in Louisiana and cut the plant’s workforce by 70
employees to stay competitive, the company said in an e-mail
yesterday. Kevin Allexon, a spokesman, declined to say which
units would be shut.
     “We will cease operating redundant processing units and
other facilities that we do not expect to be economic for the
foreseeable future,” Allexon said yesterday. Exxon told workers
on Aug. 24 that the reconfiguration of processes and equipment
at the plant was under way, he said.
     The 196,000-barrel-a-day capacity of the plant won’t
change, according to Allexon. The Chalmette refinery is a joint
venture between Exxon and Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

For Related News and Information:
Stories on refinery disruptions: NI REFOUT <GO>.
Stories on oil markets: NI OILMARKET <GO>.

--With assistance from Paul Burkhardt in New York. Editor: Dan
Stets, Richard Stubbe

To contact the reporter on this story:
Aaron Clark in New York at +1-212-617-2473 or
aclark27 at bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets at bloomberg.net.