ExxonMobil’s 275,000-barrel-per-day Joliet Refinery is returning to operation after the September 13 plant-wide shutdown, with the restart of major processing unitprogressing this week. Wood Mackenzie reported that the refinery’s approximately 98,000-bpd fluid catalytic cracker and reformer were being restarted Monday, September 21. Significant flaring observed during the process was consistent with restart activity.
The original shutdown occurred around 3:30 p.m. CDT September 13 after problems on ComEd power lines interrupted electricity to the refinery. Power was restored that evening, but subsequent heavy rain on September 17 overwhelmed a catch basin/pump system and delayed recovery. ExxonMobil said that flooding was separate from the original electrical outage.
Fatalities/injuries: None reported. Release/fire: No major process fire has been confirmed. Emergency flaring accompanied the shutdown and subsequent restart. Current operating status: Restart underway; September 23 market reporting indicates the refinery is nearing completion of the restart, although ExxonMobil has not publicly confirmed that every unit has returned to normal rates.
Confirmation level: CONFIRMED RESTART / FULL NORMAL OPERATIONS NOT YET CONFIRMED. ExxonMobil confirmed the restart process; third-party refinery monitoring indicates major units are coming back online. I would not yet classify the 275,000-bpd facility as fully restored until ExxonMobil or reliable operational data confirms normal rates.
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