Sinclair planned to shut the fluid catalytic cracker, an alkylation unit and a Scanfiner unit starting on Oct. 26, according to an Oct. 9 letter to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Workers were to install and start the wet gas scrubber, a pollution control device. The letter did not say how long the shutdowns were expected to last.

"It is a partial shutdown to install control equipment," Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for the department, said in an e-mail.

Clint Ensign, a senior vice president at Sinclair, did not immediately return an e-mail or telephone message seeking a comment. The Tulsa refinery has a capacity of 60,000 barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Cat crackers are gasoline making units. Alkylation units produce a high-octane additive that is blended with motor and aviation fuel.

Holly Energy Corp., the owner of oil refineries in Utah, New Mexico and Oklahoma, agreed earlier this month to buy Sinclair's Tulsa refinery for $128.5 million to expand its operations in Oklahoma and lower costs.

Holly purchased the nearby Sunoco refinery earlier this summer for $65 million.

Originally published by Staff and Wire Reports.

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