Several major U.S. Gulf Coast refineries were restarting operations on Wednesday as temperatures warmed following record lows across the region overnight, freezing instrumentation and snapping power lines, according to refining sources. The cold weather affected operations at Motiva Enterprises’ [MOTIV.UL] 603,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, as well as Valero Energy’s refinery in the same city. Valero was returning to normal operations at its 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur refinery after malfunctions overnight because of cold weather, upsetting instrumentation that regulates the production unit operations, said sources familiar with plant operations. The company did not respond to requests for comment. Motiva was able to keep units in operation as temperatures fell to 19 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7.2 Celsius), freezing instrumentation and triggering flaring early on Wednesday on the plant’s largest crude distillation unit, which, along with two similar units, does the […]