Motiva to integrate Norco, Convent refineries in Louisiana

Houston-based Motiva Enterprises LLC reported it will integrate the company’s two Louisiana refineries—the 220,000-b/cd Norco facility and the 227,000-b/cd Convent facility—creating the Louisiana Refining System (LRS).

This multi-phased project, Motiva said, will increase access to light oil and optimize interplant intermediates and conversion units, thereby increasing distillates yield and reducing operating costs.

Motiva Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Dan Romasko noted that at 620,000 b/d, the company’s Port Arthur, Tex., refinery is already the largest refinery in North America. With an integrated crude capacity approaching 450,000 b/cd, LRS our will rank among the top five North American refineries in terms of capacity.

The first phase of the project, the Maurepas crude pipeline system, will consist of three pipelines that will be built, owned, and operated by affiliates of SemGroup Corp. The Maurepas system will connect the existing LOCAP terminal in St. James, La., to the Norco refinery via a 34-mile pipeline. The Maurepas 35-mile and the 34-mile intermediates pipelines will then directly connect the Norco and Convent refineries “supporting optimization of both plants’ conversion units while improving logistics efficiency, alleviating dock congestion, and allowing additional product exports,” Motiva said.

When the pipelines are complete, Motiva plans to idle the fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at its Convent refinery. Additionally, the company intends to reconfigure the existing hydrocracker unit at its Norco refinery to process 30,000 b/d of additional gas oil into diesel.

Motiva is owned equally by affiliates of Saudi Aramco and Shell Oil Co.