CONVENT, LA — Firefighters at a refinery along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge are fighting a fire inside the plant.
Chief Ryan Louque (luke) of the neighboring St. James Fire Department tells The Associated Press the Motiva refinery is dealing with the fire itself, and no public fire departments are involved.
Officials with the St. James Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness told WAFB-TV there have been no reports of injuries.
Television video from the scene show flames in the center of the plant.
Motiva released the following statement to Eyewitness News:
At approximately 10:50 a.m. on Thursday, August 11, 2016, Motiva’s Convent Refinery experienced a fire in the H-Oil unit. Motiva emergency response teams are containing the fire and the cause of the incident is under investigation. Other units in the refinery were not impacted and remain operational. Air monitoring confirms there is no impact to the community.
All employees are accounted for and there are no injuries. Employees not directly involved in the operation or response have been released for the day.
Motiva has notified all appropriate agencies and appreciates the support of the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, St. James and Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Offices, other local agencies, and our own emergency responders for their efforts in the incident response.
The refinery produces a full slate of conventional petroleum products including regular, premium and low-sulfur gasoline.
Motiva is owned equally by subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and Shell Oil Company.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/royal-dutch-shell-saudi-aramco-to-split-up-motiva-2016-03-16
Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the state oil company of Saudi Arabia, plan to split up Motiva Enterprises LLC, breaking up a nearly two-decade business venture that created the biggest crude refiner in the U.S.
The move comes after Saudi Arabia said it is considering selling shares in Saudi Aramco amid a broader push to privatize state-owned companies coinciding with a protracted slump in oil prices.
On Wednesday, the companies said they had signed a nonbinding letter of intent and had preliminarily agreed to Saudi Aramco's Saudi Refining Inc. retaining the Motiva name and taking ownership of the Port Arthur, Texas, refinery along with 26 distribution terminals. Under the proposed distribution agreement, Saudi Refining also would have an exclusive, long-term license to sell gasoline and diesel under the Shell brand in Texas, most of the Mississippi Valley, the Southeast and the mid-Atlantic markets.
Shell would take ownership of the Norco, La., refinery, where the Dutch company has a chemicals plant; the Convent, La., refinery; nine distribution terminals; and Shell-branded markets in Florida, Louisiana and the Northeastern region.
No additional details were disclosed.
http://marygreeley.com/?page_id=34133
