CVR Refining restarts core units at Coffeyville refinery

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Two major units have restarted at CVR Refining LP's 115,000-barrel-per-day Coffeyville, Kansas, refinery ahead of next Wednesday, when the refinery was expected to return to production.

The 36,900-bpd fluid catalytic cracking unit and the 26,500 bpd catalytic reformer returned to operational levels on Thursday night, according to industry group Genscape.

Activity from a vacuum distillation unit, a coker and a naphtha hydrotreater also returned to operational levels earlier this week, Genscape said.

Market sources indicated that the restart may alleviate possible supply constraints for gasoline output after Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it experienced an operational upset on Aug. 16 at a unit in its Deer Park, Texas, refinery, resulting in unplanned maintenance.

One trader indicated that while the restart of the units was earlier than anticipated, it is "somewhat reasonable" to give five days to warm up those units.

Last month, the refinery shut for repairs and maintenance following a July 29 fire at the isomerization unit that injured four workers. A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the refinery is planning to get back on-line on Aug. 27.

The Coffeyville refinery, located in southern Kansas near the state's border with Oklahoma, has direct access to the Cushing, Oklahoma oil storage hub. (Reporting by Catherine Ngai in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)