A fire and explosion ripped through the PBF Energy-owned Chalmette Refining plant in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, on Friday, May 8, around 12:50 p.m. local time. The blast shook homes miles away, sent thick black smoke over the Mississippi, and was felt as far as New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood and across the river in Algiers.
St. Bernard Renewables (SBR), the renewable diesel joint venture between PBF and Italian energy company Eni, sits on the same 400-acre site — but its operations were not affected. The renewable diesel unit continued producing normally throughout the incident and its aftermath, according to information confirmed to UCO Markets.
The fire was contained within about 10 minutes of the St. Bernard Fire Department arriving on scene, working alongside the refinery's in-house emergency response team. No injuries were reported. Roughly 20 juveniles at the nearby St. Bernard Correctional Facility were briefly evacuated and returned shortly after.
Initial reports indicate the blast originated at a heater on a reformer — the refinery unit that rearranges hydrocarbon molecules to boost the octane of gasoline. SBR's renewable diesel comes from a separate, repurposed hydrocracker, a different unit that uses hydrogen and a catalyst to break heavier oils and fats into lighter fuels. The two units operate independently within the site.
Chalmette Refining, first built in 1915 and acquired by PBF in 2015, processes about 189,000 barrels of crude oil a day. SBR, which began commercial operation in 2023, is rated to produce up to 20,000 barrels of renewable diesel per day, drawing on feedstocks including used cooking oil (UCO), tallow, and soybean oil.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and refinery personnel continued air monitoring after the fire. St. Bernard Parish officials reported that the refinery told them "no toxic chemicals have impacted the air quality." The cause of the blast remains under investigation, including questions over whether the site's emergency sirens activated as designed.
For now, collections, deliveries, and renewable diesel production at St. Bernard Renewables are running as normal. The supply chain into the plant remains intact.
