Caltex Australia shuts down secondary units at Lytton refinery after fire

Caltex Australia has shut down a gasoline-making unit and unspecified related units at its Lytton refinery in Brisbane, Queensland, after a fire in early May, a company spokesman said.
Affected units are sequentially returning to full operation over the subsequent two weeks, a spokesman said.
A small fire was detected on May 1 at the 109,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery’s fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), and extinguished soon after, the spokesman said.
No injuries were reported and Caltex is investigating the cause, he said.
The FCCU and some associated units, which he did not identify, were taken offline on the same day, while the rest of the refinery continued to operate and turn out other oil products, he added.
The temporary shutdown gives Caltex the chance to do some maintenance work that was scheduled for later in the year, the spokesman said.
“By carrying out this work now, we are avoiding the need to have a 10- to 12-day maintenance shutdown for the FCCU later this year.”
The company does not expect any impact on fuel supply. It operates one other 135,000 bpd refinery in Sydney.
(May 9, 2013)