UPDATE 1-Motiva Texas expansion 90 pct complete - Shell

* Port Arthur refinery will be 600,000 bpd
* Will be deep conversion plant
* Refinery to process wide variety of crude oils

NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The expansion of the Motiva
Port Arthur, Texas refinery is 90 percent complete and start-up
procedures are slated to begin in the first half of next year,
Shell officials said on Thursday.
The officials made the remarks about the refinery, jointly
owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco, in a
third-quarter earnings conference call.
The refinery is currently rated at 325,000 barrels per day
of input capacity and will expand to 600,000 bpd once the
expansion is complete.
The refinery will be one of the largest in the Western
Hemisphere once the upgrade is complete.
Shell and Aramco decided in September 2007 almost to double
the size of the Port Arthur refinery, and construction began
shortly thereafter.
The expanded refinery will be able to process a wide
variety of crude oil streams and be capable of deeper
conversion than at present, a company news release said.