Restructuring
It was a difficult economic decade for oil companies, including Shell, which went through several rounds of downsizing. The midwestern & western refining & marketing resources of Shell and Texaco (including WRR) were merged into a partnership called Equilon Enterprises LLC. The WRR History Museum opened in the former computer room in the Main Office basement and then – with great fanfare – reopened in its current location on September 18, 1993. That coincided with the refinery celebrating its 75th anniversary (visit the museum to view the official anniversary video). 1993 was also the year of the great Mississippi River flood, which completely submerged (and ruined) the refinery’s barge loading docks. A Gasoline Hydrotreater unit (GHT) was built to satisfy increasingly stringent clean fuels requirements. The Sulfur Plant went through a control system modernization, which included a new control room and offices that replaced badly outdated facilities remaining from the Anlin days.
Clark Oil went through ownership changes – even bankruptcy – and was renamed Premcor, but the Hartford Refinery continued operating.
1990s Newsletters: