Blast won’t necessarily curtail gasoline production

As economists and consumers worried about soaring gasoline prices look to Texas City for signs of supply disruptions, BP officials said today that Wednesday’s explosion hasn’t had much effect on its production there.

BP spokesman Bill Stephens said only a couple of the BP complex’s 30-plus units are down today.

The devastating explosion in Texas City at the nation’s third-largest refinery — capable of producing 3 percent of the nation’s gasoline supply — has shaken already apprehensive energy traders who typically worry about disasters such as pipeline sabotage in Iraq and violent labor strikes in Nigeria.

BP officials said the plant’s damage is largely confined to one isomerization unit, which produces octane-enhancing additives for gasoline.