PES battles refinery fire in Philadelphia, sources say reformer shut

A general view shows the Philadelphia Energy Solutions petroleum refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 4, 2014. REUTERS/Tom Mihalek

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc emergency crews battled a refinery fire in Philadelphia on Friday, on a heating unit associated with a reformer that two sources familiar with the plant said workers were shutting down in the Point Breeze section of the 335,000 barrel-per-day complex.

The reformer shutdown was for 10 days of planned work, the sources said.

The company said it experienced an operational upset when a fire broke out in a furnace at approximately at noon. It provided no further details.

The company was still assessing the damage from the fire, one of the two sources said.

The shutdown of the reformer will result in the loss of production of 35,000 bpd of gasoline and diesel, respectively, one of the two sources said.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by David Gregorio)