U.S. largest crude oil refinery to be making motor fuels by Sept. 11 - sources

Motiva Enterprises plans for the largest U.S. crude oil refinery to return to making motor fuels by Sept. 11 following restart from a complete shutdown, said sources familiar with plant operations on Tuesday.

Motiva has restored utilities ahead of starting up production units at its 607,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, which was shut on Aug. 25 when Hurricane Laura menaced the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The refinery went through a cold shutdown, meaning all units were completely idled and allowed to cool down. Cold shutdowns are rare events.

The utilities at the refinery were also shut.

Temperatures on production units will have to be raised as high as 1,000 Fahrenheit (578 C) before oil and other feedstocks can be added. The units will be returned to production after sitting idle.

The fuels produced will have to meet specifications before they are sent to terminals and retail stations.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Sandra Maler)