May 31, 2012:

BP PLC (BP) said flaring at its Cherry Point oil refinery in Blaine, Washington, was caused by a compressor unit upset at the plant's hydrocracker unit, according to a filing to the National Response Center. The Wednesday afternoon upset caused a release of sulfur dioxide to be routed to the refinery's safety flare stack; the report said the compressor was inoperable. It is not clear whether the compressor outage had, or is having, an impact on operations at the refinery because compressors are often redundant.

The Cherry Point refinery recently resumed production after months of maintenance work following a fire at the plant's crude unit Feb. 17. The refinery's throughput capacity is rated at 225,000 barrels a day. A BP representative wasn't immediately available to comment and typically doesn't comment on day-to-day refining operations.

By Dow Jones Newswires