By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi, Texas to Pascagoula, Mississippi are configured to run the heavy sour, corrosive crude oil produced by Venezuela that President Donald Trump plans to sell in the U.S., following the capture last weekend of Nicolas Maduro.
Beginning in the 1990s, refiners reconfigured their plants with increased coking capacity and upgraded steel to be able to process growing supply from producers of dense, high-sulfur crude, like Venezuela, Mexico and Ecuador.
Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA purchased two U.S. refineries and partnered with Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Lyondell Basell LYB.N in two others.
However, in the early 21st century, with production in Latin America falling, Midwestern refineries, which had received Venezuelan crude, switched to heavy crude from Canadian oil fields. The reversal of the Capline pipeline in 2021 cut off the major supply route for Latin American crude to the Midwest.
Following are the Gulf Coast refineries that could run Venezuelan crude.
Texas
Company
Name
Location
Capacity(BPD)
Motiva
Port Arthur
Port Arthur
640,500
Marathon
Galveston Bay
Texas City
631,000
Exxon
Beaumont
Beaumont
612,000
Exxon
Baytown
Baytown
564,000
Valero
Port Arthur
Port Arthur
380,000
Flint Hills
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi
356,000
Pemex
Deer Park
Deer Park
312,500*
Valero
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi
290,000
Phillips 66
Sweeny
Sweeny
264,500
Total Energies
Port Arthur
Port Arthur
238,000
Valero
Texas City
Texas City
225,000
Citgo
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi
165,000
Source U.S. EIA
*The Pemex Deer Park refinery is owned by Mexico's national oil company and primarily runs crude from Mexico, making it unlikely it will buy Venezuelan crude.
Louisiana
Company
Name
Location
Capacity (BPD)
Marathon
Garyville
Garyville
606,000
Exxon
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge
522,500
Citgo
Lake Charles
Sulphur
459,800
Phillips 66
Lake Charles
Westlake
263,700
Shell
Norco
Norco
231,827
Valero
St. Charles
Norco
215,000
PBF
Chalmette
Chalmette
190,000
Valero
Meraux
Meraux
125,000
Source: U.S. EIA
Mississippi
Chevron
Pascagoula
Pascagoula
356,400
Source: U.S. EIA
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Sonali Paul)
((erwin.seba@thomsonreuters.com; +1 832 746 4269; Reuters Messaging: erwin.seba.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
