U.S. refiners brace for Mid-Atlantic blizzard

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil refiners were activating hazardous weather contingency plans at their East Coast refineries on Friday as a paralyzing major snowstorm took aim at the Mid-Atlantic region.

"Our Paulsboro refinery is making preparations, but has not reported any impacts to production," said Bill Day, a spokesman for leading refiner Valero Energy Corp. (VLO.N).

Valero's 195,000 barrel per day Paulsboro plant in New Jersey was among regional refineries potentially in the storm's cross hairs.

Others included Sunoco Inc's (SUN.N) 178,000-bpd refinery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, and a 335,000-bpd complex in Philadelphia.

A blizzard sweeping through the Ohio Valley was forecast to hit the mid-Atlantic states on Friday and could last into the weekend.

By Friday night much of the Virginias, southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey were expected to be in the middle of a paralyzing winter storm, while possibly flooding rains could hit the Tidewater, Virginia, area, according to Weather.com.

"Snowfall across much of Delaware, northern Virginia, Maryland, southeast Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey will easily top one foot (30 cms) and areas around the northern Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay could see totals reach or exceed two feet," the private forecaster added on its Website on Friday.

Farther south, an inclement weather contingency plan was also activated at Western Refining's 59,000-bpd refinery in Yorktown, Virginia, according to spokesman Gary Hanson.

"There will be some pretty heavy rain turning into snow over the weekend, but we are set up ... We got our standard plan in place and are starting to implement the hazardous weather plan in order to be prepared," Hanson added.

"We have a pretty detailed plan which we implement."

Refineries in cold-weather areas begin winterization efforts every fall season, Valero's Day said in an email.

"This includes things like adding extra insulation, securing equipment, making sure units and pipes that need to stay warm are prepared, etc," he noted.

"During winter, when severe weather is expected, additional preparations take place like making sure supplies are on hand, adding extra steam and heat to units, and ensuring that additional monitoring is taking place," he added.

Hess Corp (HES.N) spokeswoman Lorrie Hecker said the company's 70,000-bpd refinery at Port Reading, New Jersey, did not anticipate a weather-related production impact.

The ConocoPhillips (COP.N) 263,000-bpd Bayway plant in Linden, New Jersey, is nearby.

Marathon Oil Corp's (MRO.N) regional refineries also had severe winter weather plans in place, according to spokeswoman Linda Casey, although she said Marathon's 78,000-bp refinery in Canton, Ohio, could escape the storm.

"We always have preparedness plans for tornadoes, hurricanes or snowstorms," added Casey, whose company has refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which is targeted by hurricanes in the summer and fall.