Chevron Marks Completion of Upgrades at Pasadena Refinery in Texas

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) has completed a retrofit of its Pasadena, Texas, refinery, which will expand the facility's processing capacity of lighter crudes by nearly 15% to 125,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), the company said Tuesday.

Industrial Info has tracked the project since 2020. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Petroleum Refining Project and Plant databases can click here for the project report and here for the plant profile.

The $475 million hydroskimming light tight oil (LTO) conversion and expansion project was accelerated from the original start date of early August 2024 when the plant experienced unplanned boiler steam issues on July 23, according to Industrial Info.

Chevron said the LTO project will allow the company to process more equity crude from the Permian Basin, supply more products to customers in the U.S. Gulf Coast and realize synergies with the company's Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery. The Pasadena refinery also will begin producing jet fuel and exporting gas oil.

Chevron said it expects a phased start-up of the Pasadena facility to last through first-quarter 2025. IIR Energy confirmed that the newly expanded crude distillation unit (CDU) will run at a 20% derate, only processing 100,000 BBL/d of its 125,000 BBL/d capacity, until at least mid-January.

Chevron acquired the refinery from Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in 2019.

Industrial Info is tracking 13 active capital refinery projects from Chevron, worth $363 million. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.

Chevron said last week it was pegging capital spending for next year at about $17 billion on the high end, a $2 billion reduction from 2024 levels. For more information, see December 9, 2024, article - Chevron Favoring Cash Flow Over Increased Production.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).