Shell Deer Park Olefins Unit Down for Undetermined Time After Fire

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The 2.3 billion-pound-per-year OP3 light olefins unit that caught fire May 5 at Shell plc's (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) Deer Park, Texas, site remained down on Monday.

The 300 million-pound-per-year OP2D light olefins unit, also at the Deer Park site, also was likely down.

Despite its close proximity to the olefins units, the neighboring 340,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery operated by Deer Park Refining LP has remained operational.

Also, the nearby 1,191-megawatt Deer Park Energy Center has remained operational, Industrial Info has learned.

The Shell Deer Park fire began on Friday afternoon around 3pm CDT and was extinguished Saturday morning. However, the blaze reignited briefly on Saturday afternoon. Water runoff that exceeded the chemical plant's wastewater capacity was diverted into the Houston Ship Channel, according to Reuters.

"While the unplanned loss of ethylene in the market is significant, Formosa Plastics has recently resumed operations of its 1.6 billion-pound-per-year Olefins 1 unit in Point Comfort, Texas, which has been offline since August of 2022 due to market conditions," said Trey Hamblet, Industrial Info's vice president of research for Chemical Processing and Refining.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).