Total Restores Power to Port Arthur Refinery, Chronicle Says

By Stephen Voss

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, restored power to its Port Arthur refinery in Texas following Hurricane Ike and plans to restart the plant, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing Total spokesman Rick Hagar.

The refinery was the last of the 14 facilities shut down by Ike to regain power, the newspaper said.

Most other refineries in Port Arthur, Beaumont, Texas City and the Houston-Galveston region are days into their restart process, except for Marathon Oil Corp.'s Texas City plant, which is repairing a cooling tower, the newspaper reported.

Total's Port Arthur refinery can process 240,000 barrels of oil a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net