Shell’s Storm-Hit Norco, Louisiana Refinery to Resume Operation This Week

The USA’s crude oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is planning to resume its Ida hurricane struck Norco, Louisiana facility accountable for generating 230,611 barrels per day of crude oil, by the end of this week.

The units that will be resurrected this week include a DU-5 crude distillation unit of 240,000 barrels per day capacity, a 112,000 barrels per day capacity of gasoline-producing residual catalytic cracking unit, a 40,000 barrels per day capacity of diesel-producing hydrocracker, a coker unit with 25,000 barrels per day capacity, and a reformer of 40,000 barrels per day capacity.

The Norco refinery had been shut down on August 28, a day before the hurricane thrashed Norco city, inflicting damages to Shell’s refinery. After conducting repair works at the damaged facilities, the company is restarting the units housed in the refinery in phases. It has already got done with the starting of two sulphur recovery units and a diesel hydrotreater having 55,000 barrels per day capacity.

Crude oil, composed of hydrocarbons and other organic deposits, is a liquid phase petroleum product that is naturally found in deep reservoirs from where it is extracted through the drilling process. The applications of crude oil in fuelling transport, supplying energy for electricity generation, and providing raw materials for petrochemical products manufacture, underpins the industrial growth of all the economies in the world.

As per ChemAnalyst, the USA is still recovering from the heavy damages incurred by the hurricane, Ida, that destructed almost three-quarters of the oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. The detriments have weakened the footing of the USA refinery sector at the global level. The low production rates amid firm demand have led to the emptying of domestic inventory, hence, raising the crude oil prices to record high. Recovery of the oil refineries is most opportune in the current times as this could aid in stabilizing the crude oil futures in the country.