Valero Energy's 424,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery reported a process unit upset on Monday that prompted operations personnel to use flaring to minimize contaminant emissions, according to a regulatory filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
In the filing dated Tuesday, Valero said the upset occurred at a saturated gas recovery unit that is related to the refinery's off-gas compressor.
The company said its workers made process adjustments to stabilize the unit and stop the flaring, which lasted for almost two hours.
A saturated gas recovery unit typically separates hydrocarbon components from light, gas-saturated streams, and it also captures liquefied petroleum gas and butane for alkylation, as well as pentanes for gasoline.
Valero's Port Arthur refinery is one of the top 10 U.S. refineries by crude distillation capacity.
A separate TCEQ filing showed Valero's 204,000 b/d McKee refinery in the Texas Panhandle had planned maintenance work on a electrostatic precipitator at a fluid catalytic cracking unit on Monday that was scheduled for eight hours.
An electrostatic precipitator is used to remove fine particles from industrial exhaust gases using electrostatic charges.
In addition, Phillips 66's 384,220 b/d Wood River refinery in southwestern Illinois reported an unspecified process unit upset on Sunday that resulted in flaring and ongoing release of sulfur dioxide, according to a filing with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2026 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)
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