Port Arthur Refinery

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Port Arthur Refinery

The first processing units were originally constructed in 1902 by The Texas Company, later Texaco. The roots of this refinery can be traced to the Spindletop oil boom near Beaumont, Texas. At certain points during its lifespan it was considered the flagship refinery of Texaco.

On January 1, 1989, Saudi Refining, Inc. purchased 50% of the Port Arthur refinery (and two others) from Texaco to form a a joint venture with Texaco called Star Enterprise.

In 2001, Texaco was purchased by Chevron. Shortly thereafter Chevron's interest in this refinery (and two others) was sold to Shell on February 13, 2002. This new joint venture was called Motiva Enterprises.

Port Arthur Refinery is currently operated by Motiva Enterprises, which is jointly owned by Shell and Saudi Refining.

Current capacity is 275,000 bbl/d, but Motiva have announced an expansion that will more than double capacity to 600,000 bbl/d (95,000 m³/d), with the project expected to be complete in 2010. This will make the refinery the largest refinery in the USA.

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