Motiva Enterprises plans to completely shut the largest U.S. crude oil refinery on Tuesday because of the threat of heavy rain from Tropical Storms Marco and Laura, said sources familiar with plant operations, Reuters reported.
Motiva began shutting the 607,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday, the sources said. All units except for two boilers will be completely idle by sometime on Tuesday.
The company has not replied to requests for comment about operations at the refinery.
During 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, about 5 feet (1.52 meters) of rain fell on the refinery, forcing Motiva to completely shut down for nearly two weeks.
In 2018, because of the disruption during Harvey, the company canceled plans to expand the refinery, citing the threat of heavy flooding in the low-lying Port Arthur area during a future tropical storm.
Motiva, owned by Saudi Aramco, in 2019 bought a petrochemical plant in Port Arthur next to the refinery.
Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker
