A crude unit at U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp's plant at Texas City was shut down after two small fires Thursday morning, a spokesman for the company said, Xinhua reported.
The initial fire was extinguished quickly, and a second small fire in a gas line was also out by about 10:30 a.m. local time, company spokesman Fred Newhouse said.
There were no injuries and no environmental impact to the community caused by the fires, the company said. It said it's assessing the impact of the fires on its production.
The production capacity of the shut unit, one of the three crude units at the Texas City refinery, is 90,000 bpd, and the company has not set a timeline for the unit's reopening, according to Newhouse.
"We are assessing the damage as we speak. But given that it's Christmas Eve and tomorrow's Christmas Day, it's kind of a challenge to find suppliers who can provide the equipment and supplies," he said.
Texas-based Valero Valero Energy Corp. is the largest U.S. refiner. A boiler failure on Dec. 4 at the company's Texas City refinery left one man dead and two other workers slightly injured.
Texas refinery catches fire, no injuries reported
