By Ben Lefebvre, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Saudi Arabia will be the sole supplier of crude oil to Motiva Enterprises LLC’s refinery in Texas after the facility finishes expanding its capacity to 600,000 barrels a day next year, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
The expansion of the Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (SOI.YY), is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2012. The boost in its intake of Saudi crude oil would coincide with Saudi Arabia’s pledge to boost its oil production despite opposition from fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.