Tesoro plans Golden Eagle restart

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Oil products
27/03/15

Tesoro will begin work today to restore operations at its 168,000 b/d Golden Eagle refinery in Martinez, California by mid-April.

The US independent refiner has operated Golden Eagle as a terminal since the first week of February, when a United Steelworkers (USW) strike began as the facility was in the final stages of major maintenance work.

Tesoro notified regional regulators of two weeks of startup work causing flaring that would begin today. Union workers at Golden Eagle, Tesoro's 260,000 b/d Carson, California, and 120,000 b/d Anacortes, Washington, refineries ratified four-year labor agreements this week.

Strike action that spread to 20pc of US refining capacity hit Golden Eagle hardest of all. Other facilities, including Tesoro's Anacortes and Carson refineries, continued operations with replacement staff and occasional malfunctions. BP struggled with gasoline producing units at its 157,000 b/d joint venture refinery in Toledo, Ohio, and 410,000 b/d refinery in Whiting, Indiana, as the contract dispute stretched to 40 days.

But the shutdowns and startups associated with major turnaround work can be the most dangerous operating conditions at refineries. Tesoro opted not to attempt bringing Golden Eagle back online without its full staff.

Golden Eagle's return will end one of two major refining outages contributing to higher California gasoline prices. An 18 February explosion at ExxonMobil's 155,000 b/d refinery in Torrance, California, may leave a gasoline-producing unit there shut through July, depending on a state investigation.

The Tesoro refinery was a regular importer of Saudi light crude, Ecuadorean medium and Columbia heavy during 2014. Imports averaged 67,384 b/d in 2014, or roughly 40pc of the refinery's crude capacity.

Labor talks continue at BP, Marathon Petroleum and LyondellBasell refineries still affected by strikes.

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HSFO defies the green tide

08/05/25

HSFO defies the green tide

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Trump to grant partial tariff relief to UK

08/05/25

Trump to grant partial tariff relief to UK

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Sonatrach Augusta refinery restart extends into May

08/05/25

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IMO GHG pricing falls short on green methanol, ammonia

07/05/25

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