Chevron begins phased startup of Texas refinery's upgrading project

Chevron Corp. has completed a project to expand processing of light tight oil (LTO), increase overall crude capacity, and improve production flexibility at subsidiary Chevron USA Inc.’s 110,000-b/d refinery in Pasadena, Tex. (OGJ Online, Sept. 29, 2022).

With phased startup under way as of Dec. 10 and scheduled to run through first-quarter 2025, the Pasadena LTO upgrading project equips the refinery with additional capacity to process Chevron-produced equity crude from the Permian basin and supply more refined products to customers at the US Gulf Coast, the company said.

Once fully online, Chevron said the LTO project specifically will allow the refinery to increase its processing of lighter crudes by about 15% to 125,000 b/d, as well as enable the site to begin producing jet fuel and exporting gas oil.

Completion of the upgrading program also will support the Pasadena refinery in realizing unspecified synergies with Chevron USA’s 369,000-b/d refinery in Pascagoula, Miss., the parent company said.

The 466-acre Pasadena refining complex includes the 323-acre refinery, 5.1 million bbl of oil and products storage capacity, an associated marine terminal and logistics system, and 143 acres of additional land along the Houston Ship Channel usable for expansion.