UPDATE 1-Lyondell says Houston FCC restart delayed till May

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HOUSTON, April 21 (Reuters) - LyondellBasell's 270,000 barrel per day (bpd) Houston refinery plans to restart its 100,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit in early May, about two weeks later than planned, a company spokesman said on Monday.

When the FCC was shut in mid-March for unplanned work, Lyondell said the repairs were expected to last through mid-April.

Lyondell spokesman David Harpole said on Monday, the FCC maintenance was expected to run through the end of April with start-up in the early part of May.

Harpole said the delay was not due to any new problems found as work on the FCC has progressed.

"This is a continuation of the work we identified in March," he said.

The refinery has been able to mitigate the financial impact from the shutdown of the FCC by optimizing production from other units at the refinery, Harpole said. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Marguerita Choy)