Largest US oil refinery closes due to Harvey

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) - The nation’s largest oil refinery shut down operations Wednesday amid massive flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Motiva, owned by a Saudi Arabian company, said it was temporarily shutting its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, which processes more than 600,000 barrels of oil per day.

"Return to service is contingent upon recession of flood waters in the area," the company said in a statement. “Our priority remains the safety of our employees and the community.”

ExxonMobil shut down a facility in nearby Beaumont, also Wednesday, after it was damaged the previous night.

It closed another refinery in Baytown, the second largest in the country that produces 560,000 barrels daily.

The company late Tuesday said the Baytown facility released 12,000 pounds of poisonous vapors into the air following damage from Harvey.

Valero and Total also shuttered refineries near the Texas Gulf Coast as Harvey continues to swamp the region with water.

In all, about 25 percent of U.S. oil refinery capacity has been taken offline, according to estimates from national transportation organization AAA.

“Despite the country’s overall oil and gasoline inventories being at or above 5-year highs, until there is a clear picture of damage and an idea when refineries can return to full operational status, gas prices will continue to increase,” AAA spokesperson Jeanette Casselano said in a statement Monday.

National average gasoline prices stand at $2.40 per gallon, up from about $2.34 per gallon a week ago.

Harvey made landfall in Texas Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane before it was downgraded to a tropical storm. The storm again made landfall in Louisiana and another part of Texas early Wednesday.

Many refineries near Lake Charles, Louisiana, where about 4 percent of the nation’s refinery capacity is located, were shutting down or operating at reduced capacity by Wednesday.

Authorities have confirmed at least 21 deaths from the storm, but the death toll is expected to rise.