ExxonMobil delays Torrance restart hearing: Update
A South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing board will now meet 2 April to consider a restart plan for equipment at ExxonMobil's 155,000 b/d refinery in Torrance, California.
The oil major did not say why it requested to delay a planned 19 March hearing.
The change in plans will push back both the startup of up to 20pc of southern California gasoline demand and ExxonMobil's planned sale of the refinery to PBF Energy. The US independent refiner had anticipated start up work to begin in March.
South Coast Air Quality Management District has not yet confirmed a new date for the hearing. A district representative could not be immediately reached for comment and ExxonMobil offered no new timing to begin restarting equipment damaged in a February 2015 explosion.
ExxonMobil needs district approval of a plan to restart a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) because expected safe startup processes will violate air quality regulations until all equipment reaches normal rates. A hearing board will hold at least one meeting on the startup before voting on the plan.
State regulators cleared the refiner to conduct repair and restart work in September.
ExxonMobil must conduct a 35-day test period to ensure stable operations before PBF will close on the deal, the company said in February. PBF said it had no change to previous statements expecting a second quarter completion for the sale.
But the 2 April meeting could be the first of many. A five-member panel of judges will oversee administrative law hearings that will include public testimony on the plan. Hearings will be continued until final arguments and a public deliberation by the panel. The district was seeking a venue that could accommodate 500 people.
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