Fire, Gas Release at Marathon Texas City Refinery

A fire erupted Saturday at Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas, the largest refinery in the United States, prompting a shelter-in-place order due to large smoke plumes and the release of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. The blaze began on the resid hydrotreater unit and led to reduced production at the facility, including the fluidic catalytic cracker. Both Marathon’s firefighting team and the Texas City Fire Department responded, and air monitoring detected no harmful contaminant levels. No injuries were reported and all personnel were accounted for. The shelter-in-place order was lifted after the fire was brought under control. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.