Shell Lifts Deer Park Refining Shelter-In-Place Order, SRU Release Secured, Unit Shut

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) said Friday that its call to residents in the vicinity of its joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, to shelter in place was lifted after refinery personnel stabilized operations following a sulfur recovery unit shutdown.

Deer Park Refining's on-site emergency responders shut the sulfur recovery unit shortly after 7:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, when the unit experienced the release of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. The release was reported to the National Response Center.

"The affected unit was shut down and operations stabilized within an hour," Shell spokeswoman Emily Oberton said.

All personnel are accounted for and 65 contractor workers were medically evaluated, four of whom were treated on site for symptoms, such as skin irritation, Oberton added.

Citing company policy, she wasn't able to comment on whether the incident had, or is having, an effect on production at the 327,000-barrels-a-day refinery.

The Deer Park refinery is operated by Shell Oil, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, in partnership with PMI Norteamerica S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.

-By Rose Marton-Vitale, Dow Jones Newswire; 201-264-4185; rose.marton@dowjones.com