Exxon Baytown Texas reports utilities upset -state
HOUSTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp's (XOM.N) 563,000 barrel per day (bpd) Baytown, Texas, refinery reported a Tuesday utilities upset to state pollution regulators on Wednesday, saying the incident had no impact to production at the largest U.S. refinery.
A ground fault caused a loss of signal to instruments that regulate systems supplying natural gas and blend gas to the refinery's utilities, according to a notice filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Natural gas and blend gas were released from 10 flares at the refinery located on the east side of the Houston Ship Channel, according to the notice.
Workers struggled for four hours to stabilize the system and find the ground fault so it could be corrected and the instrumentation returned to working order, the TCEQ was told.
An Exxon representative was not immediately available to discuss refinery operations. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by David Gregorio)
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