Tesoro shuts Golden Eagle amid strikes: Update

OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2015. US independent refiner Tesoro will idle units not under maintenance at its 168,000 b/d Golden Eagle refinery in Martinez, California, amid strikes and contract negotiations with United Steelworkers (USW) union employees.

While the strike was unlikely to spark widespread outages, other refiners could face similar pressure as the manpower-intensive seasonal maintenance season continues, Wells Fargo analyst Roger Read said today. Workers did not give a customary 24-hour notice of the strike, a sign of "bad blood" and the distance between both sides, Read said.

USW employees began strikes after rejecting what refiners called the last and best of five offers on operating contracts. National negotiations led for refiners by Shell concentrated on wages, benefits and working conditions. The union objects to a shift of jobs, including day-to-day maintenance, to contractors, which they say undermines safety and trade career opportunities.

The strike continued for a second day this morning. Workers gave notifications at the 268,000 b/d LyondellBasell refinery in Houston, Texas; Marathon Petroleum's 475,000 b/d refinery in Texas City, Texas, and 240,000 b/d refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky; Shell's 340,000 b/d joint venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas; ExxonMobil's 348,000 b/d refinery in Beaumont, Texas; and at Tesoro's 68,000 b/d refinery in Mandan, North Dakota.

Tesoro will extend maintenance already underway for weeks at the northern California facility following the early Sunday notification of a strike by USW employees. Operations at the company's 120,000 b/d Anacortes, Washington, and 260,000 b/d Carson, California, refineries transitioned to non-union operations yesterday. The Carson refinery reported a unit malfunction this morning.

Golden Eagle accounts for roughly 9pc of California refining capacity.

The USW says it represents workers at 65 refineries representing almost two thirds of capacity in the US.