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Motiva Enterprises

In second upset of the week, Shell Chemical loses power, warns of high levels of smoke

By Juliet Linderman, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on December 06, 2012 at 3:17 PM

Just five days after an equipment failure at the Shell/Motiva plant caused massive flares to shoot flames and leak thick black smoke into the air above St. Charles Parish for days on end, the Norco chemical complex announced on Thursday morning that it had lost power in the second plant malfunction of the week. In a release, Shell Chemical representatives warned Norco residents of more flaring and high levels of smoke. read more

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Shell Chemical equipment failure causes flame and flares in St. Charles

David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune By David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune

Shell Chemical, located on the Motiva Enterprises campus in Norco, has been experiencing elevated flares, shooting flames and leaking thick black smoke into the air above St. Charles Parish. According to a report submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center, the plant is releasing unknown amounts of hydrogen sulfide, butadiene and benzene, a known carcinogen.

Posted: Thursday, December 06, 2012, 3:00 PM

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Toxic flaring at Shell/Motiva continues after equipment failure

The $500,000 settlement is an accumulated penalty for violations that occurred during the years 2003-2010. During that time there were 265 violations at the Norco facility (and more than 140 violations at the Motiva refinery in Convent)

3 December 2012

An equipment failure at the Shell/Motiva manufacturing complex in Norco caused the release of unknown amounts of butadiene, hydrogen sulfide and benzene, according to a report submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center.

The elevated flaring, which began Sunday and caused a smoky backdrop to Norco’s annual Christmas Parade, has continued throughout Monday. The company says they are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

“We also continue to conduct extensive monitoring around the site and in the community,” the statement said. “No injuries have been reported associated with this situation, and air monitoring results indicate no environmental impact at this time.” read more

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Motiva Mess, Tom Purves and Cronyism

Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications.

Posting on our Shell Blog by a regular contributor: Golden Triangle Watchman”

Re the Motiva article, so true…..How prophetic that the picture of Voser and the senior execs are sitting there opening a valve at the ceremony…. and ultimately, a valve just like it allowed caustic to get into the unit. This project was terrible from the start…bad idea started by Tom Purves….. Bad project team, led by Tom’s buddy Forrest Lauher, who had no idea how to run a project of this size, bad leadership throughout the project….. Tom decides to come save the project when in fact he has never worked on a major project and has no skills to actually deliver what he promised…. his cronies were dropped onto the project in various jobs…..Hartsock, Funkhouser, all with promises of making a difference…. meanwhile no one would speak up for fear of losing their job. The project finally falls on its face, only after Tom gets shipped out to Siberia. Everyone thought he would get paid a nice severance and retire but after this embarrassment, the senior Shell execs couldn’t pay Tom a nice payday. Tom then had to move on to Canada where he is now head of mining….. laughable. And his buddy Funkhouser is working on the next mega project…laughable…. he will somehow work his way up to Canada to be with his daddy Tom…. I’m sure he will wait until it warms up…. and old Forrest is now off in El Paso working for a small refinery company after being run off from Shell….. This is Shell’s finest. Tom, you are a joke. I hope you enjoy your stroll to the bank. Everyone else will when you leave. read more

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Motiva slapped with $500,000 fine arising from hundreds of environmental violations

October 24, 2012

Motiva to pay fine in refinery settlement

Motiva Enterprises LLC will pay a $500,000 fine to settle environmental violations at the company’s Norco and Convent refineries, according to a preliminary agreement with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

The settlement includes a 45-day comment period, according to a DEQ letter to Motiva dated Oct. 3.

Motiva has until Nov. 2 to send the payment to DEQ.

The settlement stems from hundreds of violations from 2003 to 2010, according to DEQ.

Motiva admitted no wrongdoing. read more

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Motiva may restart Port Arthur unit in December

Posted on October 5, 2012 at 4:00 pm by Bloomberg

Motiva Enterprises plans to restart a damaged 325,000-barrel-a-day crude unit at its Port Arthur refinery as early as the first week in December, according to people familiar with refinery operations.

Motiva expects to complete repairs on the unit this month and conduct test runs and pressure checks in November, said the people, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak for the refinery.

Motiva said on July 19 that it expected to restart the crude unit early in 2013. The restart has been accelerated because of steady progress in the repairs, the people said. read more

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Black woman claims discrimination by Motiva Enterprises

7/23/2012 1:12 PM By Kelly Holleran 

A Port Arthur woman claims her employer discriminated against her, allowing a white male certain privileges it did not permit of its female, black employees.

Carolyn Warwick filed a lawsuit July 10 in Jefferson County District Court against Motiva Enterprises.

In her complaint, Warwick, a black female, states she began working as a payroll clerk for Motiva on Oct. 30, 1968. Since then, the company has hired three other payroll clerks. Three of the clerks, including Warwick, are black women while one is a white male, the suit states. read more

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Motiva to restart damaged unit in early 2013

Motiva to restart damaged unit in early 2013

By Simone Sebastian: Published 07:31 p.m., Thursday, July 19, 2012

Motiva Enterprises plans to restart the new crude distillation unit at its Port Arthur refinery early next year, after damage from a chemical leak shut it down last month, the company said Thursday.

Weeks after the May 31 ceremonial opening of the $10 billion Motiva expansion, a chemical leaked through the unit, corroding pipes and causing small fires.

At the time, officials of Royal Dutch Shell, which jointly owns the facility with Saudi Aramco, said the unit would be sidelined for an unspecified time as the damage was inspected and repaired. read more

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Message to Shell HR EVP, Upstream Americas: Wake Up Culpepper, start listening for a change!

POSTING ON OUR SHELL BLOG FROM AN IRRITATED INSIDER SOURCE

Mr Culpepper strikes again and tells senior leaders to suck it up and support the new Shell Real Estate vision of the future. The new open concept is a tremendous step backwards for all of those less than LC but is widely supported by senior management.

So Culpepper, why do you not listen to the staff on these issues, is it just pure arrogance when you totally ignore the last three years of Shell People surveys, which quite obviously show you that people DISLIKE their working conditions. Instead SRE go off on a multi million-dollar campaign to plant trees and flowers to make Alcatraz Woodcreek Branch look appealing. read more

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Refinery Status: Shell Reports Flaring At Deer Park – Filing

Jul 5, 2012

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA.LN) reported flaring at its 327,000 barrel-a-day refinery July 4 in Deer Park, Texas, according to a filing with the National Response Center. A Shell spokeswoman declined to comment.

A compressor problem at Shell Oil Co’s 157,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Martinez, Calif., caused flaring at the facility on June 28, according to traders doing business with the company. It wasn’t known which refinery units were affected.

Motiva Enterprises LLC reported unspecified equipment failure June 30 at its 235,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Convent, La., according to a public filing. read more

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MOTIVA REFINERY DEBACLE: Caustic – the same thing that blew up Norco. Unbelievable

Might as well melt it all down and start over…

CAUSTIC COMMENTS ON MOTIVA REFINERY DEBACLE

FIRST COMMENT (FROM SHELL BLOG)

Re: Motiva Refinery Debacle – Unbelievable. Lock-out, Tag-out, the most basic safety rule, strikes again.

The same thing that blew-up Piper Alpha. Caustic – the same thing that blew up Norco. Unbelievable.

And Caustic doesn’t just pit stainless, it causes cracks in stress areas. They will have to use advanced ultrasound techniques on every millimeter of hundreds of miles of piping because a hidden crack will propagate and cause a failure days or years in the future.

Might as well melt it all down and start over. read more

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Motiva prepares Texas refinery for long shutdown

Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:39pm EDT

By Erwin Seba

(Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises LLC moved to prepare half its giant Port Arthur, Texas, refinery for an extended shut-down this week after a major glitch with a new unit, closing down other units and reducing oil shipments from Saudi Arabia.

In the first public acknowledgment of the severity of the problem at the plant, Motiva co-owner Royal Dutch Shell Plc said late on Wednesday that the stricken 325,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) unit was shut due to “corrosion problems,” as originally reported earlier this week by Reuters. read more

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Motiva expansion cost in range of $10 billion: Saudi Aramco CEO

PORT ARTHUR, Texas | Thu May 31, 2012 2:37pm EDT

(Reuters) – Saudi Aramco SDABO.UL Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said the total cost of expanding the Motiva Enterprises MOTIV.UL Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) was “in the range of” $10 billion, double its original estimate.

The Port Arthur refinery is the largest investment Saudi Aramco, which is a 50-50 partner with Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) in Motiva, has made outside the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al-Falih told reporters on Thursday. read more

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New Motiva Texas CDU might stay shut for a year

New Motiva Texas CDU might shut for 12 months-sources

HOUSTON, June 19 | Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:48pm IST

(Reuters) – A new 325,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit at Motiva Enterprises’ 600,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery may be shut for up to 12 months to repair extensive corrosion, sources familiar with refinery operations said on Tuesday.

Motiva, a joint-venture of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco, has yet to make a final determination of the cause of the corrosion or the scope of work needed to repair it, the sources said. read more

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Corrosion seen in shut Motiva Texas crude unit -sources

Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:28am IST

(Reuters) – Extensive corrosion, that may require up to five months to repair, has been found inside Motiva Enterprises new 325,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude distillation unit at its 600,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, according to sources familiar with refinery operations.

The root cause of the corrosion, found in vessels and piping on the crude distillation unit (CDU), has not been determined, the sources said.

Damage from a fire on the CDU during an attempted June 9 restart was seen as negligible, the sources said. read more

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No timeline for restart of Texas refinery unit-Motiva

Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:52pm EDT

* New 325,000 bpd CDU may be shut for up to five months -sources

* CDU furnace may have been heavily damaged -experts

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, June 15 (Reuters) – The operator of the largest U.S. oil refinery said on Friday it did not know how long a newly commissioned giant crude distillation unit, a center piece at the Port Arthur, Texas facility, would be shut down.

Motiva Enterprises said that there was no schedule for the crude distillation unit’s return to production at the 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) Texas, refinery. Sources familiar with refinery have said the unit would be down five months for repairs. read more

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Expanded Oil Refinery Idles

After $10 Billion Upgrade at Shell-Saudi Plant, Glitch Puts New Section on Ice

June 13, 2012

By BEN LEFEBVRE

HOUSTON—Two weeks ago, the top brass of Royal Dutch Shell RDSA +0.30% PLC and Saudi Arabia’s national oil company met in Texas to celebrate a $10 billion expansion that made their joint-venture refinery the largest in the U.S.

Today, the new sections of the Motiva Enterprises LLC refinery in Port Arthur are sitting idle, victims of a mechanical failure last weekend that is costing an estimated $1 million a day in lost revenue and helping to drive up gasoline prices. The new facilities could remain shut for several months, bringing down the refinery’s capacity to process crude from 600,000 barrels a day to its pre-expansion level of about 275,000 barrels a day. read more

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MOTIVA PORT ARTHUR REFINERY: ANOTHER SHELL PROJECT HUMILIATION

There is a familiar ring to the coverage on your website of the Motiva expansion at Port Arthur…  The facility starts with great fanfare, and a visit from VoserWithin days the facility shuts down

COMMENTS FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE

John

There is a familiar ring to the coverage on your website of the Motiva expansion at Port Arthur:

  1. An enormous project, undertaken/operated by Shell contrary to the perceived wisdom of other companies in the industry
  2. A partner responsible for a large proportion of both the project costs, and Shell’s overhead and finance charges
  3. The project is late and over budget
  4. A stream of comments leaked from within the project highlight ongoing problems
  5. The facility starts with great fanfare, and a visit from Voser
  6. Those responsible move to other positions
  7. Within days the facility shuts down

There are many well documented parallels within Shell. Sakhalin 2 and Pearl are frequently mentioned on your site, but less has been said about some of the offshore developments in the Gulf of Mexico where similar “surprises” occurred soon after the facilities were commissioned. I presume the Arctic will be next, or perhaps FLNG?

RELATED

Giant Port Arthur refinery unit seen shut for months

Gulf Coast Gains as Motiva Refinery Repairs Said to Take Months read more

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Giant Port Arthur refinery unit seen shut for months

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

Published: Monday, 11 Jun 2012 | 4:15 PM ET HOUSTON (Reuters) – Output at the biggest U.S. refinery could be cut by more than half for up to five months after Motiva Enterprise’s <MOTIV.UL> failed to restart a major new crude unit at the Port Arthur, Texas, plant over the weekend, sources familiar with operations said on Monday.Just two weeks after partners Saudi Arabia and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> cut the ribbon on the new 325,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit that pushed the plant’s capacity to 600,000 bpd, jointly owned Motiva shut the unit to fix what was thought to be a leaking valve impairing production.After the CDU twice failed to restart over the weekend, the refinery found major issues that will take at least two months and potentially up to five months to repair, the two sources who have knowledge of the refinery’s operations said.The news pushed up cash fuel prices and lent support to gasoline futures, traders said. It weighed on oil prices in expectations that other buyers in the United States — which saw a spike in imports from Saudi Arabia this year — would have to absorb additional supplies the kingdom had already booked into the market.”The Saudi loadings to the U.S. had risen massively a few months ago, as they wanted to show they could put barrels in the market when requested — and they were very vocal about it — as well as starting to supply Motiva,” said Katherine Spector, commodity strategist at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in New York.

“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. read more

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Gulf Coast Gains as Motiva Refinery Repairs Said to Take Months

Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened as Motiva Enterprises LLC was said to be shutting a new crude unit for as long as five months at the Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, for repairs.

By Paul Burkhardt – Jun 11, 2012 6:48 PM GMT+0100

Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened as Motiva Enterprises LLC was said to be shutting a new crude unit for as long as five months at the Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, for repairs.

The refinery is assessing damage to the 325,000-barrel-a- day unit, a person with knowledge of operations said. The startup was abandoned over the weekend after the crude unit developed leaks, cracks in pipes, and a fire in a heater, according to the person, who declined to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak for the company. read more

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Refinery Status: Motiva’s New Port Arthur CDU Restarted

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Jun 11, 2012

Motiva Enterprises on June 9 said operations at the newly-commissioned crude unit at it’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery were stabilized after uncontrolled combustion occurred within the unit during start-up procedures, a filing to regulators said. The units was take out of service on June 4 to repair leaking valves, a person familiar with the plant said on June 6. 600K

Shell Oil Co. (RDSA, RDSB) on June 8 reported flaring and a release of sulfur dioxide at its San Francisco-area refinery in Martinez, Calif. The cause wasn’t known and no other details were provided in a filing to Calif. state regulators. 165K read more

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Gulf Gasoline Drops After Motiva Said to Plan Crude Unit Start

By Paul Burkhardt – Jun 8, 2012 6:38 PM GMT+0100

Gulf Coast gasoline weakened as Motiva Enterprises was said to plan a June 10 start of the new 325,000-barrel-a-day crude unit at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.

The unit, shut June 3 to repair damage from a small fire, could near full rates within a day of the restart, said a person with knowledge of operations at the plant who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak for the company.

The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in the Gulf Coast narrowed 2.5 cents to 11 cents a gallon versus futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:07 p.m. local time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prompt delivery fell 6.97 cents to $2.5303 a gallon. read more

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Motiva crude unit remains out of production-sources

Fri Jun 8, 2012 10:25pm IST

(Reuters) – A newly commissioned 325,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) remained out of production on Friday at Motiva Enterprises’ 600,000-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with operations at the plant.

No firm date has been set for returning the CDU to production, the sources said. Workers were still attempting to find the source of a leak that is interfering with the unit’s operation, they said.

Once the source of the leak is found, repairs and restoration to normal operation are expected to take two to three days, they said. read more

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Refinery Status: Motiva’s New Port Arthur CDU Remains Shut

Jun 6, 2012

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The following table lists unplanned and planned production outages at U.S. refineries as reported by Dow Jones Newswires. The information is compiled from both official and unofficial refining sources and doesn’t purport to be a comprehensive list.

Motiva Enterprises LLC’s newly-commissioned crude unit at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery will be shut for up to three more days before restarting it, a source familiar with the refinery said on June 6. The 325,000-b/d unit was taken off-line early on June 4 after leaks occurred because of loose valves. read more

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Motiva Port Arthur refinery unit still offline-sources

Tue Jun 5, 2012 3:02pm EDT

* Crude unit expected back in operation Wednesday A.M.
* New unit was centerpiece of $10-billion expansion

HOUSTON, June 5 (Reuters) – A newly commissioned 325,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude distillation unit at Motiva Enterprises’ 600,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery remained out of production on Tuesday for repairs to a leaking valve, according to sources familiar with refinery operations.

The unit was expected to return to production as early as Wednesday morning once the repairs are completed, the sources said. The CDU was placed on circulation meaning it has crude oil in it and remains at the high temperature needed for refining. read more

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Royal Dutch Shell CEO: Hopes To Drill In Alaska By Summer

Jun 4, 2012

By Ben Lefebvre, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

PORT ARTHUR, Texas -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) hopes to be drilling for oil offshore Alaska by the summer, Chief Executive Peter Voser said Thursday.

The move to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea would help the oil giant gain advantage in the global race to tap Arctic energy resources. The plan is “progressing very well,” Voser said. “With the support of regulators and local communities, we are working toward drilling by summer.” read more

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New Motiva Port Arthur crude unit out of production -sources

Mon Jun 4, 2012 11:18am EDT

HOUSTON, June 4 (Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises newly commissioned 325,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude distillation unit at the 600,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was taken out of production following a malfunction early Monday, according to sources familiar with refinery operations.

The unit was placed on circulation following vapor releases, the sources said. It could be returned to normal operation later on Monday.

Gulf Coast gasoline differentials rose Monday morning as news of the Motiva outage permeated the market. Conventional M2 gasoline gained 1.50 cents per gallon to 10.50/9.50 cents under July RBOB futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while A2 CBOB climbed 2.00 cents to 12.00/11.00 cents under. read more

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Tainted Gas Leads To Class-Action Suit: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Shell Oil

From our Archives…

According to a release from the lawyers who filed the suit, the “class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Florida’s consumers against Shell and others as a result of the sale of Shell’s tainted gasoline containing dangerously high levels of sulfur. The gasoline has already damaged the fuel gauges of thousands of automobiles… The $75,000 suit names Shell Oil Co., Shell Oil Products and Motiva Enterprises.

Local10.com: Tainted Gas Leads To Class-Action Suit: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Shell Oil

Posted 2 June 2004

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Shell Oil Co. in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

The $75,000 suit names Shell Oil Co., Shell Oil Products and Motiva Enterprises. The dollar amount was set so that the suit could be filed in federal court, but the actual dollar amount is expected to be much higher.

According to a release from the lawyers who filed the suit, the “class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Florida’s consumers against Shell and others as a result of the sale of Shell’s tainted gasoline containing dangerously high levels of sulfur. The gasoline has already damaged the fuel gauges of thousands of automobiles, and experts fear that unknown future damages to engine component may result from the use of the tainted fuel.”
read more

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Appeals court reinstates gas price-fixing lawsuit against Shell, ChevronTexaco

The suit accuses the companies’ joint ventures – Motiva Enterprises and Equilon Enterprises – as being part of a plan by the oil giants to inflate fuel prices beginning in 1998 and ending as early as 2001, when Texaco sold its stake to win approval of its purchase of Chevron.

From our Archives…

The Boston Herald: Appeals court reinstates gas price-fixing lawsuit against Shell, ChevronTexaco

By Associated Press

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit accusing ChevronTexaco Corp. and Shell Oil Co. of operating a price-fixing conspiracy.

The suit accuses the companies’ joint ventures – Motiva Enterprises and Equilon Enterprises – as being part of a plan by the oil giants to inflate fuel prices beginning in 1998 and ending as early as 2001, when Texaco sold its stake to win approval of its purchase of Chevron. read more

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Tom Purves…GOOD RIDDANCE

From an insider…

Relieved in Port Arthur

Well, finally…. not the announcement that we all wanted to see, but good enough for us.

Tom Purves…GOOD RIDDANCE.

He is going to Upstream as an Operations Excellence VP. What a fall for this guy!!! We had hoped it would be a retirement notice. He now can slither off down I-10 and go ACT like he is adding value to Shell’s Upstream. This gets him finally out of Motiva and out of Port Arthur.

Tom, your legacy is a joke. You leave us nothing. This project ended up being overspent ( $12B, not $10B as Shell says in the media) and 2 years past due. read more

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Motiva upgrade makes it largest U.S. refinery

Replacing the traditional ribbon cutting, officials turn a symbolic valve to signal the opening of Motiva’s expansion project in Port Arthur. It’s a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Aramco. Photo: Guiseppe Barranco / The Beaumont Enterprise

Motiva upgrade makes it largest U.S. refinery

By Emily Pickrell,By Emily Pickrell: Houston Chronicle

Published 08:23 p.m., Thursday, May 31, 2012

PORT ARTHUR – With the turn of a ceremonial valve Thursday, dignitaries marked the startup of an expanded Motiva refinery – underscoring Royal Dutch Shell‘s commitment not to imitate rival oil giants that have spun off their refining operations. read more

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Shell hopes for to drill in Alaska by summer

May 31, 2012, 3:05 p.m. EDT

By Ben Lefebvre

PORT ARTHUR, Texas -(MarketWatch)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDS.A -1.89% hopes to be drilling for oil offshore Alaska by the summer, Chief Executive Peter Voser said Thursday.

The move to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea would help the oil giant gain advantage in the global race to tap Arctic energy resources. The plan is “progressing very well,” Voser said. “With the support of regulators and local communities, we are working toward drilling by summer.” read more

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Motiva completes $10 billion Gulf Coast JV refinery expansion

Motiva completes $10 billion Gulf Coast JV refinery expansion

By Kristen Hays and Erwin Seba

PORT ARTHUR, Texas | Thu May 31, 2012 4:08pm EDT

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Saudi Aramco unveiled the $10 billion expansion of their joint-venture Motiva Enterprises Texas Gulf Coast refinery on Thursday as it neared its top capacity, taking the crown as the largest in the U.S.

“This ambitious expansion creates this country’s largest refinery and one of the most advanced anywhere,” said Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser under a huge party tent next to the churning plant. read more

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Motiva pretense over employee safety

Comment in response to the article:

 Fatal Accident at Motiva Enterprises oil refinery: When a Worker’s Life Is Worth Less Than Dead Fish

Motiva preaches safety, safety safety, but the bottom line, at least at the location where I was employed, was how much will that cost? The company rolls out all these programs with fancy names, such as safe start, barrier thinking, etc. which are supposed to teach employees how to work safely. the courses are O.K. and I’m sure Motiva paid a lot of money to implement them, BUT if the management doesn’t adhere to the purpose of such training, then why bother? as soon as you walk out of the training, it’s back to business as usual! my guess is Motiva will try to hide behind all this training, and be able to say, “we trained these people, but they didn’t do the right thing, so blame the employees, not Motiva” in the event of an incident. what a bunch of B/S. one of the main reasons why I left Motiva. the old saying practice what you preach does not apply at Motiva. read more

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Fatal Accident at Motiva Enterprises oil refinery: When a Worker’s Life Is Worth Less Than Dead Fish

In March 2010, Michaels told a Senate panel about Jeff Davis, a boilermaker at the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery in Delaware whose body “literally dissolved” in sulfuric acid after a storage tank explosion in 2001. Motiva was fined $175,000 for the accident, which hurt eight others. 

Motiva Enterprises Sulfuric Acid Tank Explosion: Location: Delaware City, DE

The typical OSHA fine for a work-related death is about $7,900. “There’s no question in my mind that higher penalties would encourage employers to eliminate hazards before workers are hurt,” says David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “I think all of us recognize that fear of prison focuses the mind.”

In March 2010, Michaels told a Senate panel about Jeff Davis, a boilermaker at the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery in Delaware whose body “literally dissolved” in sulfuric acid after a storage tank explosion in 2001. Motiva was fined $175,000 for the accident, which hurt eight others. “Yet, in the same incident, thousands of dead fish and crabs were discovered, allowing an EPA Clean Water Act violation amounting to $10 million,” Michaels testified. “How can we tell Jeff Davis’ wife, Mary, and their five children, that the penalty for killing fish and crabs is many times higher than the penalty for killing their husband and father?” read more

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Motiva Reports Emissions at Texas Refinery, Filing Shows

By Moming Zhou – May 20, 2012 6:45 PM GMT+0100

Motiva Enterprises LLC reported emissions at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, according to a filing with statement regulators.

The emissions started at 9 a.m. yesterday and ended at 9 a.m. today local time, the filing showed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]

SOURCE

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Houston Chronicle: Motiva a case study in workplace regulation

FROM OUR ARCHIVES…

Motiva eventually pleaded no contest to negligent homicide in 2003 and the CEO issued an apology. Motiva was ordered to pay a $10 million fine and plead guilty to criminal environmental charges.

Posted 16 May 2005

Delaware flexes legal muscle in a 2001 death at a refinery owned by Houston oil outfit

By LISE OLSEN

Only Shell and its refining companies came close to BP’s death toll for the decade. Shell Oil Products, predecessor Equilon Enterprises and sister company Motiva Enterprises together recorded 11 deaths.

Federal law allows prosecutors to go after employers whose willful violation of workplace safety leads to a death — but it almost never happens.

There have been no federal criminal prosecutions of employers for homicide in workplace deaths under that law in at least a decade in Texas. read more

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Motiva Port Arthur HCU shut by fire

Motiva Port Arthur HCU shut by fire -filing, company

HOUSTON May 13 (Reuters) – A lube oil hydrocracking unit was shut on Saturday at Motiva Enterprises’ 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, after a fire, according to a notice filed with Texas pollution regulators.

No injuries were reported due to the fire, a Motiva spokeswoman said in a statement. The company declined to identify the unit involved.

The fire broke out in a heater check valve, according to the notice filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. read more

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Shell chemical plant in Norco produces flare after heater unit fails

The failure of a heater unit at the Shell chemical plant in Norco on Tuesday caused a partial shutdown of the plant and a towering flare that could be spotted 25 miles away… …company officials said the plant released benzene, butadiene, carbon monoxide, ethylene, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxide, propylene, sulfur dioxide, xylene and other volatile organic carbons…

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 10:30 PM

By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

The failure of a heater unit at the Shell chemical plant in Norco on Tuesday caused a partial shutdown of the plant and a towering flare that could be spotted 25 miles away, the state Department of Environmental Quality confirmed Wednesday. Shell Chemical shares a campus with the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery, which is a joint venture of Shell Oil Co. and Saudi Arabia Refining Inc.

The accident occurred in a “CO heater,” which is part of the chemical plant. In an accident report filed Tuesday at 7:09 p.m. with the National Response Center, Shell officials said a storm caused the heater to shut down, “which caused a shake to the steam load shed,” and resulted in the release of chemicals to the flare. read more

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Fiery flare, smoke from Motiva Norco refinery result of accident

A file photo of the Motiva Enterprises refinery from Times-Picayune archive

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 1:10 PM     Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 1:10 PM

 Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

A fiery flaring of chemicals from the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Norco Tuesday night, accompanied by a large plume of smoke, was the result of a heater unit failure that forced a shutdown of a portion of the refinery, the state Department of Environmental Quality confirmed today. read more

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Motiva Port Arthur refinery becomes U.S. largest -Shell

Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:27pm EDT

By Jeffrey Kerr

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco became co-owners of the largest U.S. refinery on Thursday when a new crude distillation unit at their joint-venture Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur, Texas, plant received oil for the first time, said Shell’s Chief Financial Officer.

The 325,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) atmospheric crude distillation unit that started processing on Thursday combines with existing crude units to give Motiva’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery a total crude oil refining capacity of 600,000 bpd, said Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry during the company’s first quarter earnings call. read more

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Shell Motiva Texas crude unit to create largest U.S. refinery

Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:48pm EDT

* Expansion will make Motiva Port Arthur largest U.S. refinery

* Coker to be shut for work later this month -sources

* Vacuum unit to be shut in May for overhaul -sources

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, April 12 (Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur refinery is on track to become the largest in the United States by September when its capacity reaches planned rates of 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) with the addition of a 325,000 bpd crude distillation unit, expected to begin start-up by late April.

The start-up is not expected to bring a surge in production along the Gulf Coast as Motiva plans to carry out repairs on other production units as well as take its time starting the new unit to iron out any kinks. read more

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Age discrimination at Shell Motiva Port Arthur Refinery?

They would target the individuals they wanted to get rid of and then they would pressure them to accept the severance package.

FROM A POSTING ON OUR SHELL BLOG BY “oldwhitemaleon Mar 26th, 2012

I recently read on this website about the employee at Motiva Port Arthur who has a pending lawsuit against Motiva Port Arthur for age discrimination.

I’ve seen Motiva Norco use this same practice for years. The people that were usually offered severance packages were white male employees over 50 years old. They informed them that they were poor performers or redundant in their job position and that if they didn’t accept the severance package they would likely be terminated at a later date and not be offered the severance package. read more

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U.S. Gulf Fuel Rises After Texas Refinery Reports Outage

By Aaron Clark – Mar 21, 2012 8:34 PM GMT

U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened after Motiva Enterprises LLC reported a power failure at its Port Arthur refinery in Texas.

“Operations followed stabilize, slow down, and shutdown procedures to minimize emissions” after an electrical storm knocked out power, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The failure caused emissions from a fluid catalytic cracker, the filing showed. read more

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Another toxic emissions release at Motiva Norco Refinery

Shell reports faulty instrument at Norco, LA, refinery

March 13 | Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:29am EDT

(Reuters) – Shell Oil Co on Tuesday reported emissions due to faulty instruments at a PGC unit at Motiva Enterprises’ 234,700 barrel-per-day Norco, Louisiana refinery, according to a filing with the U.S. National Response Center.

The incident happened around 06:00 am, local time, Monday, the filing said.

SOURCE

RELATED ARTICLE:

Motiva Enterprises toxic environmental record: 25 November 2011

Extracts

During 2010, Motiva’s refinery in Norco reported seven accidents involving the same DU-5 unit, resulting in a total of 18,500 pounds of emissions. The largest accident happened in January, when a fire resulted in the shutdown of three refinery units, one worker injury and more than 17,000 pounds of toxic air emissions, including sulfur dioxide. read more

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Alleged bribery and corruption at Shell Motiva

By John Donovan

In view of the article published today by the New York Times – Hits, and Misses, in a War on Bribery – it is timely to reveal allegations we have received from a long term supplier to Motiva Enterprises, the U.S. company jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco.

The supplier in question advised us of a favored relationship Shell has had with a rival vendor. It became plain that unless they were prepared to abandon their own principles and hand out substantial bribes, they might as well give up trying to do business with Shell/Motiva. read more

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Farewell message to Shell/Motiva VP Tom Purves

Posting on Shell Blog by Golden Triangle Watchman 2012/03/08 at 12:01 pm

As you can see, another power outage at Motiva Port Arthur. Going to really be interesting to watch this new albatross come up on rates and then have this 100 year old power supply keep shutting it down. Tom, why didn’t you fix the electrical system when you had the opportunity? Too busy counting your stock options I guess. Let Jeff do that for you and try to make a difference in your final days.

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The reality is Shell can’t build a refinery anywhere

The article re Brinded and Nigeria on “why Shell can’t build a refinery in Nigeria” is comical… the reality is Shell can’t build a refinery anywhere…


Posting on our Shell Blog by a Shell/Motiva insider “Golden Triangle Watchman” on Mar 3rd, 2012 at 2:14 pm

The article re Brinded and Nigeria on “why Shell can’t build a refinery in Nigeria” is comical. Though the justification is correct, the reality is Shell can’t build a refinery anywhere. Just look at our own Port Arthur project. Under Tom Purves’s leadership, this ill fated concept got hatched. Everyone was happy in the early days, taking Port Arthur back to the glory days. Alas, the cit leaders didn’t plan on Tom and the project team bringing global help in here via Bechtel to do the work and therefore not impact the locals nearly as much as what had been advertised. Now, some 2 years late on the commitment for start-up and a price tag that will ultimately grow to $14B, Shell might just as well say ” Forget Nigeria…we can’t build a refinery anywhere. ” Tom’s legacy goes down the toilet with this project. He would do well to retire and at least give our team half a chance to run it well. read more

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Texas becomes a battleground in Keystone XL pipeline controversy

At least two Port Arthur refineries, Motiva Enterprises and Valero, would be on the receiving end of the 1,661-mile pipeline.

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Motiva Port Arthur FCC, Alky, HCU back in production -sources

HOUSTON | Wed Feb 8, 2012 8:58pm EST

Feb 8 (Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises’ 285,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery returned a gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit, an alkylation unit and a hydrocracking unit to production on Wednesday following a Tuesday power outage, said sources familiar with refinery operations.

The units were ramping up to full production rates on Wednesday night, the sources said. A brief power outage on Tuesday morning knocked the units out of production, according to a notice the refinery filed with Texas pollution regulators. read more

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