A. Lee Graham Reporter
Approach Resources Inc. of Fort Worth has stopped production at the Phillips 66 Sweeny, Texas refinery due to a power failure. The company’s natural gas liquids currently flow to the Sweeny refinery and fractionation complex through DCP Midstream’s processing plants in the Ozona, Texas area and through Chevron Pipe Line Co.’s EZ Pipeline. “We estimate that production of approximately 5.2 (million barrels of oil equivalent per day) has been curtailed since May 11, 2013, due to downtime caused by the power outage, and we expect a full return to service by the end of this week,” the company said in a news release. Before the curtailment, the company’s production for second-quarter 2013 was averaging about 9.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. As a result of the curtailment, Approach said it expects second-quarter 2013 production to range from 8.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to 9.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to prior guidance of 9.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to 9.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. DCP Midstream’s Sand Hills pipeline is expected to begin providing market access for natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin to Mont Belvieu near Houston by the end of second-quarter 2013. Approach sells its natural gas and natural gas liquids to DCP Midstream. Approach Resources Inc., an independent oil and gas company with core operations, production and reserves in West Texas’ Permian Basin, operates about 148,000 net acres in that region. More information is available at www.approachresources.com.