Posted on 03/17/2009 11:26:43 AM PDT by thackney
Motiva Enterprises is delaying by more than a year the target date for completing a $7 billion expansion of its Port Arthur refinery due to poor market conditions, a company spokesman said today.
Motiva, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Refining Inc., had planned to finish the project by late 2010, but now is aiming for the first quarter of 2012, Motiva spokesman Stan Mays said today.
The expansion will double the facility’s crude oil processing capacity to 600,000 barrels per day, making the refinery the largest in the United States and among the biggest in the world.
The delay comes after the company said in January it would perform a cost review of the project, and the update came after Royal Dutch Shell, the European parent of Houson-based Shell, outlined to investors its plans for the future.
But Motiva remains committed to the expansion despite current market challenges, Mays said, adding that all major equipment for the project has been purchased.
“Demand for gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels is expected to rise over the coming decades and be an important part of the energy mix, he said. “Our goal remains to be the supplier of choice in our key markets.”
Other major U.S. refiners, including Valero Energy, Marathon Oil and ConocoPhillips, have also recently announced plans to delay or indefinitely suspend plans to expand or upgrade refineries.
Refiners are rethinking such investments as a global recession weakens demand for gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products and access to capital remains tight.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
It’s back to the old days of runnin’ it ‘til it blows up, then clean it up and put it back together a little better than it was before, no worries mate.
Hard to get away from these Bastards isn't it?
We were low bid on some of that work... now we’ll have to rebid the work next year... If it goes then.
I worked 7/12’s for half a year on one of those clean-ups once. We did get off Christmas day.
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