HOUSTON, May 1 (Reuters) - Motiva Enterprises wasreducing production levels on the second-largest crudedistillation unit at its 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) PortArthur, Texas, refinery ahead of the start of planned work onthe unit's heat exchangers, sources familiar with refineryoperations said on Thursday.
Instead of completely shutting the unit, Motiva plans toperform the work while the 200,000 bpd CDU, called VPS-4, isrunning at 50 percent capacity. If the work cannot be done whilethe unit remains in operation, Motiva will shut VPS-4 down.
A Motiva spokeswoman declined to discuss maintenance at thePort Arthur refinery. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by David Gregorio)