Li's oil company suspends production in Ohio

Updated: 2015-01-14 05:18

By Bian Jibu in New York(China Daily USA)

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Canadian oil producer Husky Energy Inc, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, expects production at its Lima, Ohio, refinery to be suspended for about one week after an explosion and fire shut down operations over the weekend.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company said there were no injuries after in the Jan 10 incident at the facility in northwestern Ohio.

The Lima refinery produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, residual fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. The company said the fire occurred in an isocracker unit, which processes about 25,000 barrels of product a day, although other facilities and units at the refinery were shut down as a precaution.

An isocracker is a type of hydrocracking unit, which uses hydrogen under high heat and pressure to increase the amount of motor fuels made from crude oil. The isocracker unit was previously damaged in a 2009 fire.

"It's going to be a long time for that (isocracker) to ramp up again," said Matt Bridges, a Lima fire department spokesman. While the unit's reactors remained intact, the pumps and compressors were "gone," Bridges said.

Husky is Canada's third-largest integrated energy company.

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