Exxon Mobil, Aramco Texas oil refineries temporarily shut down for unexpected mid-winter freeze

Texas seeing coldest weather in at least three decades

Extreme cold weather is bringing arctic air as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean with more.

As a winter storm slams the state of Texas, some of the largest oil refineries in North America are shutting down in response to the frigid temperatures.

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TEXAS POWER GRID HIT BY EXTREME STORM

Saudi Aramco's Motiva Enterprises is temporarily shutting down its Port Arthur Manufacturing Complex due to the inclement weather conditions.

"Unprecedented freezing temperatures necessitated safely and methodically shutting down our Port Arthur Manufacturing Complex," a Motiva spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement. "We are carefully monitoring weather conditions and will resume normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so."

The facility, which sits on approximately 1,400 acres and employes more than 1,500 employees, includes North America's largest oil refinery, which has a crude capacity of more than 630,000 barrels a day.

WINTER STORMS HIT CENTRAL US, CAUSING FLIGHT CENCELLATIONS, DELAYS

ExxonMobil also said it would shut down facilities in Baytown and Beaumont, citing "freezing weather conditions, coupled with the curtailment of natural gas supplies throughout the State of Texas."

"Our primary focus continues to be the safety of employees, contractors and the communities in the region," the ExxonMobil spokesperson added.

ExxonMobil's Beaumont refinery processes 366,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline annually. The company's Baytown refinery has the capability to process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

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Meanwhile, Shell says operations at its Deer Park facility currently "remain stable" but that it is monitoring the situation.

"We are closely monitoring the cold front moving into the area and taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of employees and manufacturing processes," a Shell spokesperson said. "All employees and contract partners working at site arrived Sunday afternoon and will remain at site for the duration of the freeze to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads and ensure their safety as well as that of our community and first responders."

The Deer Park facility has a crude oil capacity of roughly 340,000 barrels per day.

Shell also noted that the site is continuing to produce electrical power, which is being exported to the Houston region's grid to support "additional power draws" as the cold front passes through.

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Texas leads the nation in crude oil refining, with more than one-fifth of the nation's refineries and more than three-tenths of total refining capacity in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  The agency notes that Texas' 30 operable petroleum refineries can process a combined total of almost 5.8 million barrels of crude oil per calendar day.

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