By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur, Texas, refinery became the largest in the UnitedStates on April 26, 2012, when oil began flowing through thebrand-new 325,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude distillation unit.The unit was the centerpiece of a $10 billion, five-yearexpansion at the plant that also added a delayed coking unit, ahydrocracking unit and hydrotreaters.
The new crude unit increased Motiva's Port Arthur capacityto 600,000 bpd.
The new CDU, called VPS-5, has suffered numerous delays andoperational setbacks since it began operations.
Below is a timeline of key events at the refinery's newestand largest crude unit:
Motiva, a 50-50 joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco, announces it has completedthe initial design for an expansion that will more than doublerefining capacity from 285,000 bpd at the Port Arthur refinery.A final funding decision by Motiva's owners will be requiredbefore work can begin.
Dec. 10, 2007 - Construction begins to more than doublerefining capacity from 285,000 bpd at the Port Arthur refineryof Motiva, a 50-50 joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco. The project is expected tocost $5 billion with units in production by 2010. The buildingteam is led by privately held construction company Bechtel andJacobs Engineering.
Jan. 9, 2009 - Motiva, at the urging of co-owner SaudiAramco, slows the Port Arthur expansion, lays off some of thecontractors working on the project and begins a review of theexpansion plans in light of the global recession.
March 18, 2009 - Motiva says the expansion will go forward,but at a slower pace with production expected to begin in 2012.
April 19, 2010 - A contract worker on the Port Arthurrefinery expansion project is killed in a crane accident.
Jan. 4, 2011 - A crane topples over at the expansion projectsite. No injuries are reported.
April 19, 2011 - A worker is found dead on a scaffold in thePort Arthur refinery expansion area. His death is due to naturalcauses.
Oct. 27, 2011 - Shell says the Motiva Port Arthur refineryexpansion is 90 percent complete.
April 26, 2012 - The new 325,000-bpd crude unit, calledVPS-5, begins operation, making the Motiva Port Arthur refinerythe nation's largest.
May 31, 2012 - Top Shell and Saudi Aramco executivesofficially commission the expansion units. They tell reportersthe project's final price tag is $10 billion. Khalid Al-Falih,president and chief executive of Saudi Aramco, says the PortArthur project is the company's largest investment outside ofSaudi Arabia.
June 4, 2012 - Production is halted on VPS-5 due to a vaporleak from a valve. Originally, VPS-5 was to be out of productionfor a day, but the recognition of similar valves on the unitleads to the decision to extend the shutdown to five days.
June 9, 2012 - During the restart of production, at leasttwo small fires break out on pipes on VPS-5, forcing workers toshut the unit down. The small fires are quickly extinguished.There are no injuries.
June 11, 2012 - VPS-5 will be shut at least five months forrepairs, sources familiar with refinery operations tell Reuters.
June 15, 2012 - Motiva says there is no timeline forrestarting VPS-5.
June 18, 2012 - Pitting and cracking from corrosion has beenfound throughout the stainless steel piping in the atmosphericsection of VPS-5, sources tell Reuters.
June 19, 2012 - Repairs to VPS-5 may take a year, sourcestell Reuters.
June 20, 2012 - Motiva says VPS-5 may be shut for severalmonths for repairs due to corrosion problems found in the unit.The cause of the corrosion has not been determined. The lengthof repairs will not be known until the cause of the damage isdetermined.
June 25, 2012 - A release of caustic sodium hydroxide isfound to be the cause of the pitting and scarring of miles ofstainless steel piping in VPS-5, sources tell Reuters. Sodiumhydroxide was pushed at about 60 pounds per square inch into thesection of VPS-5 that operates under atmospheric pressure. Therewas no physical means to stop the flow. Normally, when crude oilis present in the unit the sodium hydroxide causes no damage.The caustic chemical prevents acid from the heavy, sour crudefrom building up and damaging the unit. No more than 42 gallonsof sodium hydroxide was believed to have been released in theunit. The damage likely happened when the CDU was being reheatedfor restart and the sodium hydroxide vaporized.
July 19, 2012 - Motiva says it expects to restart VPS-5 inearly 2013 after completing repairs to piping damaged bychemical corrosion.
Oct. 5, 2012 - Sources tell Reuters VPS-5 may be restartedin December, ahead of schedule.
Nov. 11, 2012 - Motiva says repairs to VP-5 may finish bythe end of November.
Dec. 3, 2012 - Motiva begins the restart of VPS-5.
Dec. 11, 2012 - Motiva halts the restart of VPS-5 after afire breaks out on piping. The company says the fire is due to asmall leak. Motiva also says the unit is still on schedule toreturn to production in early 2013.
Dec. 17, 2012 - A small fire on VPS-5 halts the secondattempt to restart.
Dec. 20, 2012 - A power outage at the refinery interruptsrepairs to VPS-5.
Jan. 3, 2013 - Motiva begins the third attempt to restartVPS-5.
Jan. 7, 2013 - A leak on VPS-5 halts the restart. Motivasays the unit has been shut down. Repairs to the CDU areexpected to take one to two weeks.
Jan. 18, 2013 - Motiva begins the fourth attempt to restartVPS-5.
Jan. 21, 2013 - VPS-5 resumes production for the first timesince June 4, 2012.
March 28, 2013 - VPS-5 operating at full capacity.Production is cut back within a few days due to excessivevibration on a pipe feeding crude oil into the unit. Throughputon the unit is expected to remain between 250,000 bpd and280,000 bpd until at least the fall of 2014 when repairs can bemade.
April 14, 2013 - A citywide power outage in Port Arthurshuts multiple units at the Motiva refinery, including VPS-5.The refinery begins restarting the next day.
April 21, 2013 - VPS-5 restarts following the power outage.
April 24, 2013 - A loss of steam and hydrogen productionshuts two smaller CDUs at the Motiva Port Arthur refinery. VPS-5remains in operation.
Aug. 12, 2013 - A fire on a sulfur recovery unit forces thesmallest of the three CDUs at the Motiva Port Arthur refineryout of production. The CDU restarts the next day.
Aug. 18, 2013 - VPS-5 is shut after a fire on a neighboring75,000 bpd hydrocracking unit. The hydrocracker processes vacuumgasoil (VGO) produced by the CDU. Without a place to send theVGO Motiva decides to shut VPS-5. The shutdown is expected tolast at least two weeks. (Reporting by Erwin Seba. Editing by Andre Grenon)
