ОРЕАНДА-НОВОСТИ. ExxonMobil will cut crude throughputs by a third during a restart of a crippled gasoline unit at its 155,000 b/d refinery in Torrance, California, under an agreement regulators will begin considering on 2 April.

The company did not estimate how long the refinery would need to run at a 100,000 b/d crude rate in a filing to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board outlining everything from catalyst speeds to sweeping nearby streets.

The filing is the latest step toward restoring a key source of gasoline production in one of the single largest US markets and completing a planned sale of the refinery to US independent refiner PBF Energy. Torrance can supply up to 20pc of the region's gasoline demand.

A February 2015 explosion during maintenance on a piece of FCC pollution control equipment called an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) crippled the refinery. The accident shut the gasoline-producing unit and roiled California's gasoline markets last year, attracting waves of imports and reaching the highest sustained premium in three years.

The hearing board, made up of five administrative law judges, will begin considering the proposal on 2 April.

ExxonMobil spent roughly $161mn to repair damaged pollution control equipment supporting the FCC unit and estimates it loses $1mn to $1.5mn in gross revenue each day the FCC remains shut, according to the filing.

The restart process requires hearing board approval and reduced rates because safe testing of the repaired equipment will violate air quality laws.

Neither ExxonMobil nor district employees have estimated how long the hearing process could take. The hearings include public testimony, and though the district could not estimate how many may speak, staff secured an auditorium able to accommodate 500 people. The company must give the district ten days' notice before beginning early portions of the restart process. ExxonMobil did not comment on whether that had already been done.

The company must demonstrate 35 days of stable refinery operations before it can complete a planned sale of Torrance to US independent refiner PBF Energy, according to PBF. Both companies expect to complete the sale by July.