Motiva Enterprises LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco's Saudi Refining Inc. (SRI), has suspended processing operations at its 600,000-b/d Port Arthur, Tex., refinery, the largest in the US, amid inclement weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Harvey.
To ensure the safety of its employees and surrounding community, Motiva began a controlled shutdown of the Port Arthur refinery in response to increasing local flood conditions at 5:00 a.m. local time on Aug. 30, the company told OGJ via e-mail on Aug. 31.
Restart of the refinery remains contingent on recession of flood waters in the region, the operator said.
Motiva disclosed no further details regarding the controlled shutdown of the complex.
Gulf Coast refining update
According to the US Department of Energy’s latest statistical update on Tropical Storm Harvey, 10 US Gulf Coast refineries with a combined capacity of about 3.08 million b/d—equal to 31.7% of total Gulf Coast (PADD 3) refining capacity and 16.6% of total US refining capacity—remained shut down as of 2:00 p.m. CST on Aug. 30.
At that time, six refineries with a combined capacity of 1.27 million b/d— equal to 13.1% of total PADD 3 refining capacity and 4.2% of total US refining capacity—had initiated the restart process, which is projected to take several days or weeks depending on whether the plants sustained damage from the storm.
Two Gulf Coast refineries with a combined capacity of 688,776 b/d—equal to 7.1% of total PADD 3 refining capacity and 3.7% of total US refining capacity—were continuing to operate at reduced rates, DOE said.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
