Valero restarting St Charles, Meraux refineries

Two more refineries in Louisiana are restarting after being shut-in after Hurricane Ida, bringing the state's refining slate closer to its pre-storm capacity.

Valero's 215,000 b/d St Charles Refinery and Valero's 135,000 b/d Meraux facility along the Mississippi river have begun restarts today, alongside the 19,000 b/d renewable diesel plant Valero runs in a joint venture with Darling Ingredients in Norco, Louisiana.

"Teams are diligently working in a safe and environmentally responsible manner to resume normal operations," the company told Argus.

St Charles and Meraux were shut as Ida made landfall on 29 August and accounted for a portion of the 1.8mn b/d in refining capacity taken offline due to widespread power outages and damage caused by the storm.

Shell's 250,000 b/d refinery in Norco and Phillips 66's 250,000 Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, remain shut-in, with crews at the latter site still engaged in water removal efforts yesterday.

Recovery efforts could be complicated by tropical storm Nicholas, which is expected to bring 5-10 inches of rain across portions of southern and central Louisiana through 17 September, according to the National Hurricane Center.

By Dylan Chase