Tesoro restart hit by set back

Reuters said Tesoro had no comment on the problem, but Washington state's Labor & Industries Department was told there was "a detonation" in a boilerhouse at the refinery on Sunday while it was restarting units, spokesman Hector Castro was quoted as saying. He said no injuries were reported in the explosion.

Reuters quotes sources as saying that at least a furnace on a boiler was damaged and will have to be replaced. The length of the delay was unclear, according to Reuter's sources.

The refinery has been shut down for about 6 m oaths after an explosion and fire killed 7 workers on April 2. The fireball was caused by the failure of a heat exchanger on a naphtha hydrotreater at the refinery.

The state Department of Labor & Industries launched an investigation and found appropriate inspection and maintenance of the heat exchange could have prevented the plaits. The agency hit Tesoro with 44 citations and a $2.4-million fine. Tesoro filed an appeal last Friday.