Motiva to shut Port Arthur, Texas, crude unit for work -sources

(Adds Motiva no comment, background)

DALLAS, April 22 (Reuters) - Motiva Enterprises plans to shut a 200,000-barrel-per-day crude distillation unit and a reformer at its 600,000-bpd refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, in early May for two weeks of repairs, sources familiar with refinery operations said on Tuesday.

The CDU, called VPS-4, and the catalytic reformer will be shut to clean out heat exchangers on the two units, the sources said.

The work had originally been scheduled to begin in late April but was moved back to complete preparations, the sources said.

A Motiva spokeswoman declined to discuss maintenance plans at the Port Arthur refinery

VPS-4 is the second-largest crude unit at the refinery, which is the nation's largest. The CDUs do the initial refining of crude oil coming into the refinery and provide liquid feedstocks for all other units.

The reformer, called CRU-4, converts refining by-products into blending components that boost the octane of gasoline.

Motiva is co-owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) and Saudi Aramco (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Alden Bentley and Lisa Von Ahn)