Exxon Evacuates Workers Amid California Wildfire
June 16 2016 - 8:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Dan Molinski
Exxon Mobil Corp. said it has evacuated nonessential personnel
from its Las Flores Canyon processing plant in southern California
as a fast-moving wildfire expanded Thursday.
The so-called Sherpa fire that broke out Wednesday afternoon in
the Refugio Canyon area of Santa Barbara county by early Thursday
had charred some 1,100 acres and forced the shutdown of parts of
Highway 101, according to the county. Exxon's facility is located
about 15 miles from the city of Santa Barbara.
"Employees who remain on site are involved in various
fire-protection activities," Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler said in
an email.
Exxon normally uses the Las Flores Canyon facility to receive
crude oil produced from wells offshore Santa Barbara and then send
it along by pipeline to refineries in other parts of California.
But the rupture last year of an oil pipeline Exxon was using forced
it to halt crude production as pipeline repairs continue.
Without any way to transport its crude oil, some 425,000 barrels
of crude oil were left stranded in two storage tanks at the Las
Canyon Flores facility. But last month Exxon began hauling the
crude away in trucks after Santa Barbara county expressed concern
about "the risks associated with long-term storage of oil" in the
environmentally sensitive region.
Write to Dan Molinski at Dan.Molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 16, 2016 08:06 ET (12:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024