Petrodollars: A lot of smart oil people caught up in problems at a Motiva plant
By News Desk: September 16, 2013
A big expansion project at the Port Arthur, Texas refinery owned by Motiva–the Shell-Saudi joint venture–has been far from the success story envisioned by the two partners. In this week’s Oilgram News column Petrodollars, Janet McGurty looks at the problems there.
Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery expansion woes have people wondering how it could all go so wrong for a group of companies with so much expertise.
The refinery, which was expanded from 325,000 b/d to 600,000 b/d, is owned by Shell and Saudi Aramco.
The expansion work was done by a joint venture of Bechtel Corp. and Jacobs Engineering. All four companies are experts in the refinery arena.
“It’s hard to believe that Shell and the Saudis/Bechtel got it wrong, and even then it should be fixable,†said Carl Holland, an independent energy trader who worked at the refinery when it was owned by Texaco.
The expanded Port Arthur refinery opened to great fanfare on May 31, 2012—two years later than originally planned and, at $10 billion, double the initial price—with dignitaries from all four companies turning the valve to start its operation.
Then, merely a month later, the brand new crude distillation unit had to be shut down…
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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.
