Pemex PEMX.UL returned the main crude distillation unit (CDU) to production on Sunday at its 312,500 barrel-per-day Deer Park, Texas refinery, people familiar with plant operations said on Monday following a nearly one-week outage.

The Mexican national oil company was bringing other units supplied by the 270,000 DU-2 CDU into production on Monday, the sources said.

Production was stopped on most of the refinery’s units last week after DU-2 was shut on Oct. 16 to repair a ruptured pipe.
A Pemex spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

While bringing the units back on-line, Pemex is checking to ensure their output meets specifications for refined products, according to the sources.

The DU-2 unit shut down on Oct. 16 after a butane reflux line ruptured, the sources said. The unit accounts for 80% of the refinery’s production capacity.

Pemex also has the 70,000-bpd DU-1 CDU operating at the refinery.

CDUs begin the refining process by breaking down crude oil into feedstock for all other units at the refinery.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sonali Paul)