Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company, owns the Port Arthur Refinery in Texas through its subsidiary Saudi Refining Inc. and operates it under the Motiva Enterprises name.

Quick Scoop: Who owns Port Arthur Refinery?

  • The Port Arthur Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas is the largest oil refinery in the United States, with a capacity of around 600,000+ barrels per day.
  • It was historically a joint venture between Shell (via Shell Oil Products US) and Saudi Aramco (via Saudi Refining Inc.) under the Motiva Enterprises LLC partnership.
  • In 2017, that joint venture was split, and Saudi Aramco took over full ownership of the Port Arthur refinery, the Motiva name, and associated distribution terminals.
  • Today, the refinery is controlled by Saudi Aramco (through Motiva), making it a key Saudi-owned asset on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

In simple terms: if you’re asking “who owns Port Arthur Refinery right now?” the answer is Saudi Aramco, via its Motiva-operated complex in Port Arthur, Texas.

A quick note on confusion

There are multiple refineries in Port Arthur (for example, facilities operated by Valero and TotalEnergies), which can cause some mix-ups in news reports, especially after incidents like recent explosions or fires.

But when people say “Port Arthur Refinery” in the context of “largest refinery in the U.S.” or “Saudi-owned refinery,” they are almost always referring to the Saudi Aramco-owned Motiva Port Arthur Refinery.

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Refinery name Location Owner Notes
Motiva Port Arthur Refinery Port Arthur, Texas Saudi Aramco (via Saudi Refining Inc. / Motiva) Largest refinery in the U.S.; full control since 2017.
Valero Port Arthur Refinery Port Arthur, Texas Valero Energy Separate facility; also in Port Arthur and in the news for incidents.
TotalEnergies Port Arthur Platform Port Arthur, Texas TotalEnergies Refining and petrochemicals site, distinct from Motiva’s complex.
**TL;DR:** The “Port Arthur Refinery” most people mean — the huge, headline-making one — is owned by Saudi Aramco, operating under the Motiva name in Port Arthur, Texas.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.