Norco Refinery, Louisiana

Norco is a major petroleum refinery on 130 acres, twelve miles upstream from New Orleans, and one of four oil refineries in the Norco area. The name of the community, Norco, comes from the New Orleans Refining Company, which built a refinery here in 1916. This same refinery has since grown into a plant which now produces around 250,000 barrels per day, making it a medium-large refinery in the national picture, as far as production capacity is concerned. It has been owned by several companies over the years, and is owned by Shell now, which also has a chemical division operation at this location. Located along petrochemical alley, one of the nation's largest industrial corridors, with plastics and chemical plants lining both banks of the Mississippi River, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.