Tesoro Hawai'i said asphalt production should resume next week after it gets a shipment of heavy crude oil for refining. Tesoro plans to have asphalt ready for contractors by about June 3.

Tesoro announced May 18 that it will spend almost $1 million over the next two months to upgrade its liquid-asphalt storage capacity as it responds to a shortage of the petroleum byproduct in the Islands.

Reconfigured refinery tank capacity will let Tesoro store a 50-day supply of asphalt. Tesoro now can store 26,000 barrels, and the company estimates about 45,000 barrels are used monthly.

Hawai'i was hit with an asphalt shortage on May 12 caused in part by Chevron Hawai'i's decision to stop production and Tesoro's inability to meet a doubling of demand.