Deer Park, Texas, refining facilities report upsets following tornado

(Reuters) At least one chemical plant and an oil refinery were scrambling to recover from operational upsets on Tuesday after severe weather tore through an oil and gas refining hub outside Houston, Texas.

Shell said it was experiencing an incident at its Deer Park chemicals facility following severe weather, according to a company tweet.

Due to severe weather and the resulting loss of on-site steam, Shell Chemicals at Deer Park is currently flaring. There is no threat to the community, nor are there any indications a nearby tornado touched down within the Chemicals facility.
— Shell Deer Park Chemicals (@ShellDeerPark) January 24, 2023

Petroleos Mexicanos also reported operational upsets due to weather at its neighboring oil refinery, according to a company alert.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Houston area Tuesday. A twister touched down in Pasadena, Texas, police said, damaging homes, buildings and power lines.

ExxonMobil said operations at its Baytown, Texas, plant were stable following the severe weather, with no injuries reported.

The storm moved east towards the Beaumont, Texas - also a major refining center - and a tornado warning remained in effect until 4 PM CST for several counties east of Houston.

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