Chevron El Segundo Flaring Follows Early October Explosion

MIAMI, FL (DTN) –Chevron reported another emergency flaring event at its 269,000 bpd El Segundo, California, refinery that began at 12:00 a.m. PT on October 12, according to a filing with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The filing indicated emissions from the flare may exceed 100 lb of volatile organic compounds (VOC) for the entire event, with daily cumulative vent gas flow estimated above 100,000 scf. The cause was listed as emergency flaring, and no stop time was available as of Sunday.
This marks the fourth reported flare at Chevron’s El Segundo facility since early August. The refinery previously reported unplanned flaring events on August 9 due to maintenance, September 7 tied to a startup/shutdown process, and October 9 for another emergency flaring incident.
Chevron’s El Segundo refinery is a major supplier of transportation fuels for Southern California markets, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

DTN data show the series of flares coincided with heightened volatility in the Los Angeles jet fuel market. On October 3, LA jet fuel differentials were assessed at 9cts below November NYMEX RBOB futures, but by October 7 had reversed to trade at 20cts above the same futures contract.
The flare incidents followed a massive explosion and fire on October 2 in the refinery’s Isomax, jet fuel unit, which knocked multiple process units offline and drew investigations into the cause.  
Market participants said the repeated flaring activity at El Segundo has “definitely impacted supply sentiment,” noting that the outages have contributed to the sharp reversal in Los Angeles jet fuel differentials in early October.

The flare incidents follow a massive explosion and fire on October 2 in the refinery’s Isomax, jet fuel unit, which knocked multiple process units offline and drew investigations into the cause.  
Market participants said the repeated flaring activity at El Segundo has “definitely impacted supply sentiment,” noting that the outages have contributed to the sharp reversal in Los Angeles jet fuel differentials in early October.