Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Delek U.S. Holdings Inc., a unit of Israeli holding company Delek Group Ltd., temporarily halted production at its Tyler, Texas, refinery after an explosion and fire yesterday, the company said in a statement on its Web site.

The explosion occurred at approximately 2 p.m. local time in the saturates gas plant at the Texas refinery, according to the statement.

“The cause of the incident and the extent of the damage to the refinery have not yet been established,” the company said.

Dale Sherman, 49, died overnight at Parkland Hospital in Dallas after being airlifted to the medical center because of burn injuries, KLTV reported. At least six workers were provided medical treatment after the blast.

The Tyler, Texas, refinery, which can process 60,000 barrels of oil a day, accounted for about 40 percent of Delek’s revenue last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net; Robert Tuttle in New York at rtuttle@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 21, 2008 09:40 EST