Motiva Enterprises News

A deep freeze that hit Texas over the weekend wrought more havoc on the U.S. energy sector on Tuesday, curbing output in the largest U.S. oil field, knocking out a fifth of the nation's refining capacity, and shutting a key shipping channel in Houston.Historic cold has knocked out roughly 4 million barrels per day of refining capacity, more than one-fifth of national capacity, according to Reuters calculations. About 500,000 to 1.2 million bpd of crude production has also been affected…

Oil traders are hiring expensive U.S. vessels, normally only used for domestic shipments, to store gasoline or ship fuel overseas, five shipping sources said, in a sign of the energy industry's desperation for places to park petroleum amid a 30% drop in worldwide demand.Billions of people worldwide are living under confinement rules due to the coronavirus pandemic, destroying demand for gasoline and other fuels and creating a supply glut. Storage tanks onshore and floating storage in tankers on the water are rapidly filling, leaving fewer options for traders looking to sock away oil.Several shippers said they have started to book Jones Act (JA) vessels for foreign voyages or to store refined products.

U.S. refiners had a plan for 2020: use their complex operations to maximize profits by making products that would comply with new international laws capping sulfur content in shipping fuels.But after a series of unexpected market moves, heavy, sour crude oil processed by U.S. refiners has become more expensive, eating up hoped-for profit windfalls before they even materialized, forcing refiners to rethink plans to invest more in heavy crude processing units.New regulations by…

Fuel exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast are rising rapidly as refineries recover from weeks of disruptions due to Hurricane Harvey, offering respite to buyers in Latin America and Europe. The gradual resumption of operations in the region that has become a major oil export hub has prompted a drop in benchmark gasoline and diesel refining margins on both sides of the Atlantic. Margins measure the profit from converting crude into fuels. Mexico's state-run oil company Pemex bought gasoline cargoes from the U.S. Gulf Coast this week, according to shipping data, after sourcing dozens of cargoes from Europe, the Middle East and Asia through the month. Mexico, which relies on imports for half of its gasoline consumption, typically buys two cargoes of the road fuel per day, mostly from the U.S.

Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur, Texas refinery, the nation's largest, may be shut as long as two weeks for assessment of the plant and repair of any damage, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday. The 603,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur Refinery was shut on Wednesday due to flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. Reporting by Erwin Seba

Oil traders from Texas to Louisiana braced on Tuesday for supply disruptions as Tropical Storm Cindy, formed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, threatened to hit refining and production centers with wind and rain later this week. Cindy was located about 265 miles (430 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 km) per hour. It is expected to approach the coast of southwest Louisiana late Wednesday or Wednesday night, and move inland over western Louisiana and eastern Texas on Thursday, the NHC said. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the largest privately owned crude storage terminal in the United States…

Shell and Saudi Aramco on Wednesday announced plans to break up Motiva Enterprises LLC and divide up the assets, almost two decades after the U.S. oil refining and marketing joint venture was formed. Under the terms of a non-binding letter of intent, Saudi Aramco will retain the Motiva name, assume sole ownership of the Port Arthur, Texas refinery, the biggest in the United States, and retain 26 distribution terminals, according to a statement. It will also have an exclusive license to use the Shell brand for gasoline and diesel sales in Texas, the majority of the Mississippi Valley, the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic markets, it said. Shell will assume sole ownership of the Norco…

Venezuelan crude exports to the United States declined 10 percent in September versus the previous month due to lower sales of heavy and medium grades to some of regular customers, according to Reuters trade flows data and PDVSA trade documents. State-run oil company PDVSA and its joint ventures sent 44 crude cargoes to the United States last month carrying 724,230 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 807,065 bpd in August. Sales of diluted crude oil (DCO) made with naphtha rose again to 348,200 bpd, from 311,130 bpd in August, but the increase was not enough to offset an export decline to regular clients including PDVSA's refining unit Citgo Petroleum, Motiva Enterprises, Phillips 66 and PBF Energy's Chalmette refinery.

The largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years entered its fourth week on Sunday as workers at 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of national production capacity were walking picket lines. Sources familiar with the negotiations said talks may resume by mid-week to end the walkout by 6,550 members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) at 15 plants, including the 12 refineries. Representatives of both sides said no date has been set to restart negotiations, however. The strike comes as U.S. workers seek more pay in a strengthening economy. Wal-Mart Stores Inc has said its U.S. workers will get a raise to at least $9 an hour, while West Coast port workers have reached a tentative deal for a new contract after a months-long dispute. The refinery work stoppage began on Feb.

Sales to the United States of new Venezuelan crude blends made with imported oil nearly doubled in January to 176,000 barrels per day (bpd), but the rise was not enough to offset a decline in total oil shipments, according to Reuters trade data. Venezuela's state-run company PDVSA started buying Algerian light crude in October from Sonatrach to use it as diluent for its own extra heavy oil output. China and the United States have been receiving cargoes of the new blends since then, but disagreements over terms of the Algerian oil sales have caused PDVSA to halt the purchases, according to industry sources. PDVSA and its joint venture partners sent 736,000 bpd of crude to the United States last month, down 10.5 percent from December.

Exxon Mobil Corp is considering a multi-billion-dollar plan to expand its Beaumont, Texas, refinery into the country's largest, the first major refining investment of the U.S. shale oil boom, people with knowledge of the deliberations said. The expansion of the 344,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont refinery, if carried out, would be completed by 2020 and potentially double its size with the addition of a third crude distillation unit (CDU), the sources said. More modest near-term projects to renew and expand so-called coking units to help refine more heavy crude already are under way, they said. If Exxon presses ahead, the investment would be a further indication that the American oil giant is breaking ranks with many of its big global rivals…

The very large crude carriers (VLCC's) will load at Ras Tanura terminal for deliveries to a US Gulf Coast port next month. The very large crude carriers will each load 280,000 metric tons of oil at Saudi's Ras Tanura terminal between April 3 and April 9 for the voyage via the Cape of Good Hope to the Port Arthur, Texas terminal, reports Bloomberg from various sources. Saudi Aramco, as Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is known, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) operate refineries through Motiva Enterprises LLC. The joint venture is bringing its Port Arthur, Texas plant back to full capacity after a series of unplanned shutdowns. The facility will be able to process as much as 600,000 barrels a day and is the nation’s biggest. Source: Bloomberg

According to reports, a fire broke out at a Motiva Enterprises LLC fuel terminal dock in Providence, Rhode Island, on Tuesday night, shutting the terminal. A 25,000-ton capacity Danish-flagged gasoline tanker was preparing to discharge its cargo when the fire occurred, according to a U.S. Coast Guard official. Both the Coast Guard and Motiva, a joint venture of Saudi Refining and Royal Dutch Shell's Shell Oil, said the cause of the fire was under investigation. It could not be confirmed that the blaze was caused by lightning, though officials could confirm there were storms in the area Tuesday night. The tanker Nordeuropa, owned by Norden in Denmark, suffered damage to its hydraulic pump systems and melted oil discharge hoses, the Coast Guard said.

Ship deliveries to most of the Sabine-Neches Waterway were stalled again Wednesday as salvage crews removed concrete lost by a barge. The accident Tuesday left 94 piles, each weighing about the same as a tractor-trailer at 32,110 pounds, in the ship channel. A crane is picking up the heaps one by one, forcing the ship channel's closure to large vessels for days, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Ian Bird. Tugboats and barges were allowed into the waterway starting Tuesday evening, he said. Seven crude oil tankers are waiting to enter and 11 others are tied up by the restrictions. Motiva Enterprises is expecting a shipment today of crude, but the refinery keeps enough stock in case of delivery delays, said spokeswoman Sue Parsley.