BATON ROUGE – Exxon had to shut down and restart many of its production units after a steam supply problem over the weekend.

Exxon uses steam as a heat source for its operations.  Steam is provided by a vendor which experienced an outage, the chemical company said in a statement to WBRZ Monday.  With a loss of steam, Exxon performed a “controlled shutdown” at the facility. 

Steam was normalized by Monday and the plant was in the process of re-starting.  As the plant was brought back online, flaring would likely be seen, Exxon said.

“This is not an emergency situation, and we are working to minimize flaring. Flares are environmentally approved safety control devices intended to consume excess gases. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” Exxon said in a statement.

Despite the weekend shutdown, Exxon said it was not expected to have a ripple effect on an already strained national fuel supply chain issue. 

All orders will be met, Exxon said:  “We continue to meet all contractual commitments.”