Houston-area oil refineries unaffected by flooding after heavy rains

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Houston-area oil refineries were unaffected by heavy rains that caused flooding across wide areas of the city overnight, the companies and industry sources said on Tuesday.

Rainfall totals over 7 inches (17.8 cms ) were recorded by the Harris County Flood Warning System in the past 24 hours. Houston police reported 13 rescues from high water by early on Tuesday.

Exxon Mobil Corp's Baytown, Texas, refinery; Royal Dutch Shell Plc's joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery, and Phillips 66's Sweeny, Texas, refinery were operating normally as of Tuesday afternoon, company representatives said.

Sources said LyondellBasell Industries' Houston refinery was also operating normally as was Marathon Petroleum Corp's Galveston Bay and Texas City refineries in Texas City, Texas.

A spokesman for Marathon declined to discuss operations at the company's refineries in Texas City, as did a Valero Energy Corp spokesman asked about the company's Houston and Texas City refineries. A Lyondell spokeswoman did not reply to a message about the refinery's status on Tuesday.

A Petrobras spokeswoman did not reply to a message about the company's Pasadena, Texas, refinery.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba, editing by G Crosse)