MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp is considering permanently closing the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 112,229 barrel-per-day (bpd) Pasadena, Texas refinery as part of a possible reconfiguration of the plant, reported Reuters with reference to sources familiar with the company’s deliberations.
Idling the shut 52,000-bpd FCC would be part of converting the refinery on the Houston Ship Channel to a simpler hydroskimming configuration, the sources said.
The FCC was shut on June 1 by a malfunction that knocked the unit out of operation.
“They are investigating if it makes sense to repair the FCC,” one of the sources said.
A decision on the FCC's future is expected this month, the sources said.
In March, Mark Nelson, the company’s executive vice president of downstream and chemicals, said Chevron was looking for ways to expand processing of light-tight oil it produces from the Permian oil field in Texas to supply retail locations along the Gulf of Mexico.
“We continue to test alternatives for capital-efficient ways to expand our light-tight oil processing capability,” Nelson said during an investor day presentation in answer to an analyst’s question about the company’s plans for the Pasadena refinery.
On Friday, Chevron spokesman Tyler Kruzich said the company continues “to test those alternatives.”
Idling the FCC could lead to closure of 40% of the units at the refinery, the sources said.
As MRC informed earlier, Chevron bought the refinery in 2019 for USD350 million from Petrobras plus working capital.
We remind that Chevron Corp restarted the 112,229 barrel-per-day (bpd) Pasadena, Texas, refinery night after completing a multi-unit overhaul that was extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire refinery was shut from mid-April, 2020, until mid-July, 2020 with the last units returning to production on Tuesday, 14 July. The overhaul was originally to finish in mid-June, but was extended to mid-July.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
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