Tesoro Corp. has begun restarting the Kapolei refinery, the largest of two in Hawaii, after finishing planned repairs, a person with direct knowledge of operations said.

The plant began circulating oil through units this week, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Par Petroleum Corp. agreed in June to buy the complex upon its restart.

The refinery was expected to take a few weeks to return to full rates, a person familiar with the schedule said Aug. 2. That person also asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The 94,000-barrel-a-day refinery on the island of Oahu was shut for at least three months as Tesoro searched for a buyer, increasing Hawaii’s dependence on jet fuel imports. Chevron Corp.’s 54,000-barrel-a-day Kapolei complex is the only other refinery in the state.

Brad Ginsburg, a spokesman for Par Petroleum in Houston, declined to comment on plant’s operations and said yesterday the company plans to issue an update on the sale “shortly.”

Tina Barbee, a spokeswoman at Tesoro’s headquarters in San Antonio, declined by e-mail today to comment on the specifics of the refinery’s turnaround.

Rosneft Oil Co. delivered 742,931 barrels of oil for Vitol Asia Pte Ltd. to Tesoro in Honolulu on Aug. 11, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection bills of lading compiled by Bloomberg. Tesoro has chartered three tankers, the Cap Laurent, Devon and Eugenie, to load feedstock over the next week for delivery in the western U.S., ship-fixture data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Greg Goff, Tesoro’s chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts Aug. 2 that Tesoro expects to close the sale in September.