June 21, 2012:

Motiva Enterprises 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was shutting a catalytic reformer and a catalytic feed hydrotreater on Wednesday because of a lack of feedstock due to the shutdown of the 325,000 bpd crude distillation unit, said sources familiar with refinery operations. Motiva built a reformer, which creates gasoline additives, during the 5-year, $10-billion project in which the shut CDU was built. The reformer being shut was not built during the expansion project, the sources said. However, the hydrotreater being taken out of production was built during the expansion, which was completed in late 2011 and brought into production in the first half of 2012. The hydrotreater removes sulfur from feedstock going to the refinery's gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit.

A Motiva representative was not immediately available to discuss refinery operations. The new crude distillation unit, which began production in April and was shut following a June 9 fire, may be idle for up to a year to repair extensive corrosion found in the unit after the blaze was extinguished. Motiva's Port Arthur refinery is not shutting the refinery's FCC, but will emphasize production of diesel, which is yielding higher returns for U.S. refiners as an export, the sources said.

By Reuters