Cities Service / CITGO Ponca City Refinery — Ponca City, Oklahoma

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that workers at the Cities Service Company (later CITGO Petroleum Corporation) refinery in Ponca City, Kay County, Oklahoma, sustained occupational asbestos exposure during petroleum refining operations.

Facility Background

The Ponca City refinery has operated since 1911, making it one of the oldest continuously operating petroleum refineries in the United States. Originally built by Cities Service Company (later acquired by Occidental Petroleum and then by Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA, which renamed it CITGO), the refinery has processed crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other products for over a century.

Plaintiffs alleged that the age and scale of the Ponca City refinery — with its extensive process piping, distillation units, catalytic crackers, and heat exchanger networks — created conditions for significant asbestos exposure among maintenance, turnaround, and construction workers during the decades when asbestos was the dominant industrial insulation and sealing material.

Alleged Asbestos Pathways

Plaintiffs alleged in litigation that asbestos exposure occurred through multiple pathways:

  • Process piping insulation throughout the refinery: Plaintiffs alleged that insulators and pipefitters working on process lines carrying crude, products, and steam applied and removed asbestos pipe covering and block insulation throughout the refinery’s process units.
  • Heat exchanger and vessel insulation: Plaintiffs alleged that asbestos-containing insulation was used on heat exchangers, storage vessels, distillation columns, and reactor vessels throughout refinery operations.
  • Gaskets on process flanges: Plaintiffs alleged that asbestos compressed-fiber gaskets were used on the thousands of flanged connections throughout refinery process systems.
  • Furnace and fired heater maintenance: Plaintiffs alleged that workers maintaining fired heaters and process furnaces encountered asbestos refractory and insulation materials.

Oklahoma has a two-year statute of limitations under 12 Okla. Stat. § 95(A)(3), running from the date of mesothelioma diagnosis. Wrongful death claims carry a two-year limit under 12 Okla. Stat. § 1053.

Workers who were employed at the Cities Service / CITGO Ponca City refinery and who have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestos-related disease may have legal remedies available. Contact O’Brien Law Firm at (314) 237-3332 to discuss your work history and legal options at no cost.