COMMENT POSTED ON OUR SHELL BLOG 12 JUNE 2012
Texvette: Is anyone surprised with the current issues with the new crude unit at Port Arthur. Word has it that: 1) the problems are much more severe than being reported, and 2) this is just “the tip of the iceberg”. Some wonder if the new $13 billion worth of units will ever start-up
Giant Port Arthur refinery unit seen shut for months
“The question now will be how much storage space at Motiva was already filled, and will they need to divert barrels to other customers.”
The entire refinery has not been shut by the outage because the pre-expansion 285,000 bpd crude distillation unit, continues to operate. CDU units perform the initial refining of crude oil coming into the refinery and provide feedstock for all other production units.
While it is not unusual for new refinery units to experience operational teething pains when they are first commissioned, a shut-down lasting months would be a major embarrassment for Motiva and its owners after a landmark $10 billion upgrade.
IMPORTS SURGE
The outage may also complicate Saudi Arabia’s drive to push more crude into the market, as the Port Arthur plant was one of the biggest new outlets for increased production.
U.S. imports from the kingdom jumped to 1.45 million barrels during the first five months of 2012, according to Reuters calculations based on monthly and weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the highest level for that period since 2008.
Saudi Arabia pushed oil production to the highest level in decades in May, hitting 10.10 million barrels per day on average for the month according to a Reuters survey, helping to cushion the impact of Western sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program which have threatened Tehran’s exports.
Speaking ahead of an OPEC meeting this week, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi on Monday said the producer group should increase its oil output target, despite a recent slide in crude prices and comments by other members that high production had created a surplus in the market.
Gasoline prices in the Gulf Coast spot markets jumped more than 5 cents on the news, while RBOB gasoline traded slightly higher even. Oil prices dropped nearly $2 per barrel.
The CDU is the centerpiece of a $10 billion, five-year expansion project that more than doubled the refinery’s capacity, and the shut down comes after the unit’s official startup at a May 31 ceremony attended by the chief executives of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco. <SDABO.UL>
At the ceremony, Motiva Vice President Tom Purves, who oversaw the expansion project, said the refinery was near its 600,000 bpd capacity and would reach full production by the end of the second quarter, advancing the date the refinery would reach that milestone by a full three months.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; additional reporting by Kristen Hays, Robert Gibbons, Matthew Robinson; editing by John Wallace, Bob Burgdorfer and David Gregorio)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012.
Texvette: Is anyone surprised with the current issues with the new crude unit at Port Arthur. Word has it that: 1) the problems are much more severe than being reported, and 2) this is just “the tip of the iceberg”. Some wonder if the new $13 billion worth of units will ever start-up
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
