ByCharles Kennedy– Apr 17, 2025, 9:30 AM CDT
Motiva Enterprises has finally restarted a gasoline-producing unit at its huge Port Arthur refinery in Texas, following several attempts at a restart in recent weeks after an overhaul.
Motiva Enterprises, the owner of the second biggest refinery in the United States, has restarted operations at the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at Port Arthur, sources with knowledge of the plant’s operations told Reuters this week.
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The refinery’s FCC, which typically converts gas oil into unfinished gasoline, has a capacity of 81,000 bpd. As of Wednesday, the unit was operating at 69,300 bpd capacity, or 86% of full capacity, the sources said.
Motiva shut the FCC unit at the end of January 2025 for an overhaul, which was planned to last two months. Since the end of March, the refiner, owned by Saudi oil giant Aramco, has made three attempts to restart the unit.
The third attempt appears to have been successful as the unfinished gasoline being produced at the cracker is meeting test standards, according to Reuters’ sources.
The Port Arthur Refinery produces conventional gasoline, commercial aviation fuel, Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel, Export (High Cetane) Diesel, and Texas Low Emissions Diesel. The refinery typically produces 275,000 barrels of branded fuel every day and 40,000 barrels of base oil per day, according to Motiva Enterprises.
The refinery is the second largest in the United States by operable capacity, after Marathon Petroleum’s 631,000-bpd refinery at Galveston Bay, Texas, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration as of January 1, 2024.
Of the five largest U.S. refineries, four are located in Texas and one in Louisiana, as the U.S. Gulf Coast hosts a large portion of America’s refining capacity.
More than 48% of total U.S. petroleum refining capacity is located along the Gulf Coast, as well as 51% of total U.S. natural gas processing plant capacity.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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