Executives and dignitaries officially break ground on the expansion project at the Motiva Port Arthur Refinery on Dec. 10. (L to R) Deloris Prince, mayor, Port Arthur, Texas; William Welte, president and CEO, Motiva Enterprises LLC; Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream, Royal Dutch Shell; Abdulaziz Al-Khayyal, SVP, Saudi Aramco; Samuel Bodman, U.S. Secretary of Energy; Phil Wilson, Texas Secretary of State; Representative Ted Poe (R - TX).

Motiva Enterprises LLC officially broke ground Monday, Dec. 10, for its 325,000 barrel-per-day refinery expansion in Port Arthur.

The expansion will increase the refinery's crude oil throughput capacity to 600,000 b/d, making it the largest refinery in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

Hundreds of guests including U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman were welcomed to the facility for the ceremonial turning of dirt.

"This is a major milestone in the journey to meet our nation's growing energy demand," Motiva President and Chief Executive Officer William B. Welte said in a prepared statement. "By adding 325,000 barrels per day capacity, the expansion is equivalent to building a new refinery."

Headquartered in Houston, Motiva Enterprises LLC is a refining and marketing joint venture owned by affiliates of Shell and Saudi Aramco. Company assets include three refineries located in Norco, La., Convent, La.; and Port Arthur, Texas, currently capable of refining approximately 740,000 barrels per day.

The expansion is expected to boost the nation's supply of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuels and high quality base oils. After coming online in 2010, the "new" refinery will produce around 23 million gallons of transportation fuels per day.

And for Southeast Texans, the project will provide more than 4,5000 construction jobs and about 300 full-time jobs when completed. Motiva is working with the Texas Work Force Commission, Southeast Texas Workforce Development Board, Lamar State College - Port Arthur, represented work groups, vocational institutions and local school systems to recruit and train qualified members of the workforce to take full advantage of the job opportunities. Many local sub-contractors have already been hired for the project.

Motiva awarded a contract to Bechtel/Jacobs Joint Venture to manage the expansion project as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

More information is available at www.motivaenterprises.com.