--Motiva said to have small fire at crude unit
--Unit could be down for months, according to a person familiar
with the refinery's operations
--Motiva investigating cause of accident
(Updates with comment from Motiva spokeswoman in sixth
paragraph.)
By Ben Lefebvre
Motiva Enterprise LLC is taking the crude distillation unit down
at its newly expanded refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, for repairs
that could last several months, a person familiar with the
refinery's operations said Monday.
Motiva had commissioned the expanded refinery on May 31,
bringing the plant's overall capacity to 600,000 barrels a day. The
company took the CDU down during the weekend, after a small fire
broke out at the unit, the person said. The company is also trying
to determine the cause and extent of some corrosion found on the
unit, the person added.
The CDU is the first step in crude refining.
"It could be several weeks, it could be several months" before
the unit is back up and running, the person said.
Motiva spokeswoman Emily Oberton said the refinery experienced a
unit shutdown but didn't say which unit it was. The company was
investigating the cause of the problem, Oberton said.
"We will resume normal operations as soon as it is appropriate
to do so," Oberton said.
Motiva is a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA,
RDSA.LN) and Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil producer, Saudi Arabian
Oil Company.
Write to Ben Lefebvre at ben.lefebvre@dowjones.com