OREANDA-NEWS. January 31, 2014. Alon USA Partners, LP (NYSE: ALDW) ("Alon Partners") announces that the planned turnaround at the Big Spring refinery that was originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2014 has been postponed until the second quarter of 2014. 

The delay allows Alon Partners to better integrate the implementation of the vacuum tower project with the turnaround, reducing the down time required to complete the work while also reducing costs. The previously discussed vacuum tower project will increase the ability of the refinery to handle lighter shale crude oils, while also increasing the refinery's distillate production by an estimated 2,000 barrels per day and improving energy efficiency. As a result of the postponement, throughput at the Big Spring Refinery for the first quarter of 2014 is currently expected to average 73,000 barrels per day.

Alon USA Partners, LP is a Delaware limited partnership formed in August 2012 by Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALJ).  Alon Partners owns and operates a crude oil refinery in Big Spring, Texas with total throughput capacity of approximately 70,000 barrels per day. Alon Partners refines crude oil into finished products, which are marketed primarily in West Texas, Central Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona through its wholesale distribution network to both Alon Energy's retail convenience stores and other third-party distributors.