June 10, 2012:

Motiva Enterprises 600,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery restored the newly commissioned 325,000 bpd crude distillation unit to production on Saturday, according to notices filed with state pollution regulators. The crude unit, which does the initial refining of crude oil coming into the refinery, has been out of production for about a week due a leaking valve that interfered with its operation.  The unit, which began production in late April, was officially commissioned on May 31 in a ceremony attended by the chief executives of Motiva's owners, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco.

The 325,000 bpd crude distillation unit was the centerpiece of a five-year expansion project costing about $10 billion that more than doubled the Port Arthur plant's crude oil refining capacity making it the largest refinery in the United States.

By Reuters