WorldWide Drilling Resource

Riding Out the Storm - Inside a Refinery Information Courtesy of ExxonMobil When Hurricane Harvey hit the U.S. Gulf Coast this past September, it triggered the shutdown of roughly a third of the country’s petrochemical refining capacity. Not even three weeks later, Hurricane Irma made landfall near Naples Florida, adding to the challenge of keeping up with demand. This one-two punch had the potential to wreak havoc on the nation’s supply of fuel. However, ExxonMobil crews were prepared and worked throughout the storms to make sure the refineries, employ- ees, and surrounding communities were safe. As a console supervisor within the country’s second largest refinery and chemical plant, in Baytown, Texas, Arce Sambilay oversees teams operating the chemical plant’s control systems. He is comfortable making on-the-spot decisions requiring seamless timing and depends on precise measurements. He just can’t cook. Although Sambilay’s normal job description at ExxonMobil’s Baytown refinery doesn’t call for cooking skills, some familiarity in the kitchen would have helped when he was part of a 12-member volunteer, live-in crew during Hurricane Harvey. “There was enough food, but not a lot of us are good cooks,” said Sambilay, describing his four days living in the refinery. “Luckily, we had one person who was very good at that.” Sambilay’s experiences during Harvey represents a small glimpse of life for the nearly 800 employees who hunkered down across the Texas Gulf Coast to monitor and maintain facilities. Live-in crews repaired whatever could be fixed at the time and ensured equipment remained secure during flooding. Their lives toggled between off- and on-duty. They found sleep when possible, pitched in where they could, and braved the elements in between torrential downpours, all while checking in with families, some of whom were stranded at home, without power. Much of the work entailed send- ing out crews to survey problems con- trol-room personnel detected from their monitors. Even though the refin- ery was carefully taken offline prior to the storm’s arrival, crews still had to fix equipment vital in monitoring core functions. If a transmitter went offline, it could affect a temperature reading for a turbine. Ireneo Casti l lo, an instrument special ist at the Olef ins Plant in Baytown, was not on the live-in team, but he was in regular contact with those who were. “They’d go out there and fix the problem as safely and efficiently as possible,” he said of his team. “Sometimes they’d only have 30 minutes before the next down- pour would come through.” Steve Garcia, a chemical plant process safety coordinator in Baytown, was one of 20 emergency workers who stayed in the facility, splitting up into two teams to provide coverage as Harvey battered the area. “You worked your shift, and then you tried to have some off-time,” Garcia said. “You’d put out an air mattress and try to take a nap. You never left. So, during that off-time, you spent a lot of time on the phone with your family, making sure they were okay at home, and reassuring them you were safe.” Those who volunteered provided a critical function during punishing conditions, according to Steve Hart, vice president of supply and transportation, and coordina- tor of the company’s response plan during and after Harvey. Those who stayed helped to not only secure those facilities, but also accelerated the return of needed gasoline and fuels into the market. “Our people realize the work they do will not be fully seen by the public,” Hart said. “This is our job, to get the equipment and supplies back online as quickly as possible.” 21 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2018 Garcia is also a member of the plant’s emergency response team.