Cherry Point refinery down until April

BP’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington state likely will be down into April due to fire damage and maintenance work.

The refinery is a major destination for Alaska North Slope crude oil, which is carried aboard tankers to predominantly West Coast ports.

On Feb. 17, a fire broke out around the refinery’s crude processing unit, burning for about an hour.

In a Feb. 29 note to community members around the Ferndale, Wash., refinery, BP said that after assessing the fire damage, “we have decided that it would be prudent for us to begin our spring maintenance activities that were planned for later in the year. This gives us the opportunity to combine the repair work and maintenance work with the least amount of down time.”

The maintenance work is expected to last into April, the note said.

The Cherry Point refinery has capacity to process 234,000 barrels of crude a day. It is a major supplier of gasoline and jet fuel in the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia. BP has another major West Coast refinery at Carson, Calif., near Los Angeles. BP is looking to sell that refinery by the end of 2012.

—Wesley Loy