Motiva to link Norco, Convent refineries on US Gulf

Motiva Enterprises announced plans today to integrate the company's two Louisiana refineries -- Norco and Convent -- to create what it will call the Louisiana Refining System. 

This multi-phased project creates significant operational opportunities, according to Motiva officials, including increasing access to advantaged light oil, optimizing inter-plant intermediates and conversion units, increasing distillates yield and reducing operating costs. 

"Through the implementation of these projects, we are creating a world-scale, integrated refining system that leverages the best aspects of our two Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco," said Dan Romasko, president and CEO of Motiva. 

"At 620,000 [bpd], our Port Arthur refinery is already the largest refinery in North America and benefits from this scale and efficiency," he added. "With an integrated crude capacity over 500,000 [bpd], our Louisiana Refining System will rank in the top five of North American refineries in capacity and deliver significant value to Motiva's portfolio."

The Maurepas pipeline system is the first step in the Louisiana integration project. This system is comprised of three pipelines that will be built, owned and operated by affiliates of SemGroup Corp., a publicly traded midstream service company. The Maurepas crude pipeline will connect the existing LOCAP terminal in St. James, Louisiana to the Norco refinery via a 34-mile pipeline, greatly improving access to advantaged domestic crude oil.

The Maurepas 35-mile and the 34-mile intermediates pipelines will directly connect the Norco and Convent refineries supporting optimization of both plants' conversion units while improving logistics efficiency, alleviating dock congestion and allowing additional product exports, according to Motiva officials.

"The Louisiana integration strategy is an exciting opportunity for Motiva to unlock significant value for our owners," said Romasko. "This project is well aligned with our strategic priorities and represents a performance step change supporting our transformation journey."

When the pipelines are complete, Motiva plans to idle the Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) at its Convent refinery. Additionally, the company intends to reconfigure the existing hydrocracker unit at its Norco refinery to process 30,000 bpd of additional gas oil into diesel.

On a combined basis, the Louisiana Refining System is expected to drive incremental annual benefits of $350 million of EBITDA, according to Motiva officials.