Exxon reports fire at Baytown, TX refinery

(Bloomberg) --Exxon Mobil Corp. is working to extinguish a fire at its Baytown facility in Texas, the fourth-largest refinery in the U.S.

Four people have been injured in the fire that occurred at about 1 a.m. local time, according to Exxon. Gasoline’s premium to West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 6.1% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The blaze is under control and four injured workers are in stable condition after being transferred to a local hospital, said Casey Cook, a public information officer at the Baytown Fire Department.

The fire comes as U.S. gasoline stockpiles hit their lowest for this time of year since 2015. Gasoline futures, meanwhile, are at their highest seasonally in eight years. Prices were up 1% at 9:15 a.m. in New York.

It’s the second such blaze at Baytown in the last two years. In 2019 a fire on the plastic-producing side of the industrial complex injured about 37 people. 

Thursday’s fire occurred in a unit that removes sulfur from refined products such as gasoline, Exxon spokeswoman Julia King said in an emailed statement. Air quality monitoring at the site and fence line has shown no adverse impact so far, she said.

Exxon on Wednesday reported a leak at one of Baytown’s sulfur-removal units, according to a filing with a state regulator. The leak was discovered at around 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the filing.