The Excel Paralubes base oil plant in Westlake, La., remains closed, eight weeks after a fire forced it to shut down. Market sources say the companys owners have not disclosed a firm target date for reopening.
Meanwhile, Motiva publicly announced Monday theopening ofthe 15,000-barrel-per-day expansion at its Port Arthur, Texas, plant. Officials said the new unit, the plant’s third production train, is ramping up to full capacity.
Excel Paralubes is a 50-50 joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Flint Hills Resources with capacity to make 21,900 b/d of Group II stocks. Its closing is the last in a string of disruptions that have hammered the U.S. base oil industry in the past six months.
The facility closed after a fire broke out Feb. 1, and both partners subsequently declared force majeure and imposed sales allocations.
ConocoPhillips and Flint Hills Resources have declined to comment on the status of repair efforts. Industrysources said in recent weeks that the joint venture was aiming to restart during the second half of March, butsaid yesterday that the plant remains closed and that the owners have declined to say when they expect production to resume.
Posted prices for paraffinic base oils were unchanged this week. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $65.97 per barrel, according to Bloomberg. That was $3.70 higher than a week earlier.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.