Valero Refinery Damage update!!! ... oil stocks will be volatile Monday.
By Ciara Linnane, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:49 PM ET Sept. 24, 2005
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Valero Energy Corp. said an initial inspection of its Port Arthur, Tx. refinery has discovered significant damage to two cooling towers and a flare stack.
"But it does not appear that we have significant damage from flooding," spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown said in an email.
The company expects to take two weeks to a month to implement the necessary repairs and restart the refinery, she said.
Valero's Port Arthur refinery produces 250,000 barrels of oil per day. The company also has a 243,000 barrel per day refinery at Galveston Bay, Texas.
The U.S.' biggest independent refiner (VLO: news, chart, profile) now has recovery teams in place in Texas City and Houston and the effort to reestablish utilities is underway, said Brown.
Valero said earlier that its Krotz Springs plant still has power but is operating at minimum rates due to pipeline outages.
"We are encouraging all of our refining and retail employees who can safely return to work to do so -- as restoring the fuel infrastructure in the Houston/Galveston area is critical to the recovery and repopulation efforts," said the spokeswoman.
Valero shares closed Friday down 1.8% at $110
Paul Litman: "Avoid panic selling & avoid overconfident buying."
AI
