March 6 (Reuters) - Independent U.S. refiner PBF Energy ( PBF )

said on Thursday it is starting repairs at its

fire-damaged 156,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) Martinez refinery in

California and estimates the cost of repairs to be $30 million.

The fire broke out on February 1 near a cat feed

hydrotreater, which uses hydrogen to remove sulfur from gas oil

used to make unfinished gasoline, company executives said during

its fourth-quarter earnings call.

The shutdown would impact production in the first

quarter, they had said.

The company said it expects certain units, including the

crude unit, to restart early in the second quarter of 2025, with

the remaining units restarting by the fourth quarter.

Total throughput during the first stage is expected to

be in the range of 85,000 bpd to 105,000 bpd.

PBF expects the costs to be largely covered by

insurance, and its business interruption insurance should offset

the financial loss resulting from the downtime.