The nation’s largest oil refinery in Port Arthur is reducing its production by at least 40 percent as it deals with floodwaters from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
The Port Arthur refinery, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Motiva Enterprises, said it is working to stay open while at least 15 percent of the nation’s refining capacity is knocked out of commission by Harvey. The issues are leading to higher fuel prices and possible gasoline shortages.
“While the refinery is dealing with some water within the plant and localized road flooding, our employees are making extraordinary efforts to allow Motiva to continue to safely operate the refinery and supply our customers,” Motiva said Tuesday.
Apart from flooding issues and potential damages, refineries also are dealing with reduced oil input from pipelines and reduced operations at nearby terminals and ports.
Exxon Mobil’s Beaumont refinery and Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery were both operating at reduced capacity on Monday, but Reuters reported Tuesday that both plan to shut down temporarily.
This first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more click here.