Marathon restarts Galveston Bay, Texas reformer – sources

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:) restarted a rebuilt reformer at its 593,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, on Thursday, people familiar with plant operations said.

Marathon plans to resume production on the 75,000-bpd Ultraformer-3 (UU-3) on Friday, the sources said.

A Marathon spokesperson was not available after business hours to discuss refinery operations.

UU-3 was shut by a deadly May 15 fire that claimed the life of a Marathon employee. The fire was so extensive a lengthy rebuild was required.

Reformers convert refining byproducts into octane-boosting components added to unfinished gasoline to make premium-grade products.

The Galveston Bay Refinery is the fourth largest by capacity in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.