Maintenance at the Torrance Refinery

During the next few months, maintenance work will generate increased activity in

the refinery. This brochure is intended to answer your questions regarding all our

maintenance activities; however, if you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to

call:

24-Hour Neighborhood Hotline(310) 505-3158

Why do our units require maintenance so often?

As a refinery situated in the midst of a busy community, and producing nearly 10% of the gasoline refined in California, it is essential that we keep our equipment in top working condition so we can continue to operate safely and reliably. Furthermore, most of our units run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so equipment wear-and-tear is inevitable. Think of it this way – in order for your car to run safely and smoothly, it needs a tune-up every 30,000 miles to replace and maintain parts that wear out through normal usage. It’s the same situation with our refinery –only, instead of a few days, our maintenance work takes several weeks and involves more than a few hundred people!

Also, unlike your car, our refinery has 21 major processing units that cannot all be serviced at the same time. We do maintenance work only on one or two units at any given time, so the refinery can continue to make gasoline and we are able to meet our contractual commitments.

What are “turnarounds?”

A turnaround is what we call “major maintenance” and we do it on a scheduled basis – in addition to our regular ongoing maintenance activities – to make sure our refinery operates at peak reliability and efficiency. The 2008 turnaround will begin in October and will last for a few weeks.

How is a turnaround different from routine maintenance?

A turnaround is usually planned years in advance and involves maintenance work being performed on two or more units simultaneously. Turnarounds also require more people, both employees as well as hired contractors, to perform the work. Unlike

routine maintenance, any maintenance activity such as a turnaround that makes it necessary for us to shutdown units requires that we work day and night to complete the turnaround in a timely manner; it is our belief that the faster we complete the turnaround, the less we inconvenience our neighbors.

What about all the new equipment being installed?

The Torrance Refinery continues to make several improvements to the refinery that will help enhance the refinery’s environmental and operational performance. This May, you may have heard about the transportation of two large Desalter vessels to the refinery, which are used to remove salt and solids from crude oil. We’ve also progressed considerably on the installation and assembly of the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) unit at out facility. The ESP Project is a regulatory compliance project mandated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and will reduce 10 micron particulate matter (PM10) and ammonia (NH3) emissions from our Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Unit.

Emission reductions anticipated: o A 60% reduction in PM10 emissions.o A 50 lbs/day reduction in NH3 emissions.

Should you be concerned about flames from the flare?

No. Although the sight of the flares in operation may cause concern, the flare system is a safety device. Flaring is necessary to make the equipment safe for personnel who will be thoroughly inspecting both the inside and outside of the processing units.

Unit shutdowns and startups during maintenance require excess materials from the

What does all this maintenance work mean for our

neighbors?

A safer refinery! In a 2008 survey of Torrance Residents, responders were asked to rank the refinery on doing a good job of maintaining our equipment. The Torrance Refinery received a historic rating of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. As our neighbors, we thank you for understanding that maintaining our equipment allows us to continue operating safely.

As always, whether its during these maintenance activities or normal operations, we will make every effort to minimize our impact on the community. If you have questions or concerns, please call our 24-Hour Neighborhood Hotline (310) 505-3158 or our Public Affairs Department during regular business hours at (310) 212-1852.

unit to be routed to the flare system. There, the materials are combined with steam and burned. This system ensures maximum combustion of hydrocarbons while minimizing emissions into the air. The South Coast Air Quality Management District regulates the emissions from refinery flare systems.

What about parking?

We realize that with all the activity taking place at the Torrance Refinery, parking has become quite a challenge for our employees and contractors. All Torrance Refinery personnel have been encouraged to park in the refinery-provided parking lots. They have also been asked to avoid driving through neighborhoods and to stay on major arteries such as 190th, Prairie and Crenshaw. Meanwhile, the refinery management is working to alleviate the parking situation within the refinery.

2008 TurnaroundHow many people are involved? Nearly 150

of our current 750 employees from the refinery and

more than 700 contractors who specialize in refinery

turnarounds will be involved.

Does a turnaround means extra traffic? Yes.

More workers will mean more traffic, especially during

shift changes, which occur between the hours of 6-8 a.m.

and 6-8 p.m. We are coordinating with the Torrance

Police Department to ensure adequate monitoring and

control of potential traffic and safety issues. In addition,

ExxonMobil will contract with off-duty police officers to

provide traffic control during shift changes.

What about noise and light? While we do not

expect increased noise levels specifically related to the

turnaround, similar to any maintenance activity, close

neighbors may hear occasional thumping or hammering

sounds.

Since this is a 24-hour activity, neighbors may also

experience “flashing” or “flickering” lights, most likely

from equipment caution signals.

What about increased odors? Preventing

and eliminating odors is an ongoing commitment

of the Torrance Refinery. During turnarounds, an

Environmental Foreperson will patrol neighborhoods,

monitoring for possible odors. As always, if you hear or

see something unusual, please do not hesitate to call us

on our 24-Hour Neighborhood Hotline – (310) 505-3158