CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AFX) - Valero Energy Corp. said Thursday that the dock at its Corpus Christi refinery 'sustained significant damage' after a lightning strike sent a wastewater storage tank ablaze, forcing the company to reduce its output by 70,000 barrels per day.
The company said in a statement emailed to reporters that it was unclear when full production would resume at the refinery, which has processing capacity of 340,000 barrels per day.
The troubles at the Valero refinery helped to lift wholesale gasoline prices on Thursday, sending July futures 3.15 cents higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $2.1272 per gallon.
After lightning struck at about 1 a.m., the fire burned for 3.5 hours, but no one was injured, officials said.
The fire was extinguished by company emergency response personnel with the assistance of the Refinery Terminal Fire Co., the Port Fire Boat, a nearby ship and area tugs.
'We are still assessing needed repairs, as well as other logistical opportunities, to determine when we can return to planned rates,' Mary Rose Brown, a spokeswoman for San Antonio-based Valero, said in a statement.
Geoff Atwood, chief of the privately run Refinery Terminal Fire Co., said oil cleanup was under way in port waters Thursday.
Shares of the company fell 47 cents to $60.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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