Citgo restarts vacuum distillation unit, delayed coker at Lake Charles refinery
Citgo Petroleum Corp., Houston, has restarted a vacuum distillation unit and a delayed coker at its 425,000-b/d Lake Charles, La., refinery, both of which had been offline since the summer of 2020, enhancing the refinery’s heavy crude processing capabilities, the company said May 9.
The updates were part of Citgo’s first-quarter 2024 financial and operational report.
The 177,000 b/d Lemont refinery in Illinois achieved a crude capacity utilization rate of 103% and a new monthly jet fuel production record, the company said.
Favorable refining margins and strong asset reliability led to first-quarter 2024 net income of $410 million, compared with net income of $937 million for the year-ago period.
"We delivered the third highest average daily throughput for a quarter in company history," said Citgo president and chief executive officer Carlos Jordá. "We achieved these results with turnaround activities under way at two refineries while successfully restarting two offline units that we believe will further enhance our crude processing capabilities."
Total throughput for the quarter was 830,000 b/d, of which crude runs were 769,000 b/d with an overall average crude utilization rate of 95%. In comparison, total refinery throughput for first-quarter 2023 was 814,000 b/d, of which crude runs were 772,000 b/d with an average crude utilization rate of 96%.
The company invested $99 million in turnaround and catalyst expenditures and an additional $101 million in direct capital expenditures. Projected turnaround, catalyst, and capital expenditures for 2024 total about $1.1 billion.
