A handful of refinery expansion projects currently underway in the US Gulf will likely have minor effects on petroleum coke production in the near term, even as a new coking unit is set to come on line.
US independent refiner Valero is slated to begin processing feed at its new Port Arthur, Texas, coker in late April or early May, adding 55,000 b/d of refining capacity to the 335,000 b/d refinery. The new delayed coker unit (DCU) gives the Port Arthur refinery two independent coker trains and improves turnaround efficiency, the company said.
But the new unit will not boost Valero's coke output until 2025, as a series of refinery turnarounds will keep at least a portion of the company's coking capacity off line for roughly the next two years, according to a source.
More coke may be on the horizon from Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas, following the completion of the refiner's South Texas Asset Repositioning (STAR) project.
The project, which adds 40,000 b/d of crude refining capacity and 17,000 b/d of residual fuel oil upgrading capacity to the existing 593,000 b/d facility, was planned to be completed in a turnaround ending late last quarter, with the units starting up in April. While sulphur and shot content increased markedly in late December, Galveston Bay's coke is expected to return to its typical 3pc sulphur anode-grade quality in the second quarter, a market participant said.
Meanwhile, other refinery expansions in the US Gulf are unlikely to move the needle on overall petroleum coke production.
ExxonMobil late last month started a new crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery, adding 250,000 b/d of light crude refining capacity to the formerly 370,000 b/d plant. But the project's focus on increasing refining capacity for light Permian Basin crude grades suggests that coke output will be unaffected.
ExxonMobil is also planning to widen the range of crudes that can be processed at its 502,500 b/d Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery, through a project that will also "enable better extraction of carbon solids from crude", according to the company.
The project is expected to conclude later this year and will allow the refinery to process heavy Canadian crudes, as well as lighter Permian Basin crudes. Baton Rouge's fuel-grade coke quality will become more variable after the project's completion and is expected to fluctuate with changes in crude economics, a source said.
Beyond the fourth quarter, petroleum coke production will be cut on LyondellBasell's plan to close its 265,000 b/d Houston refinery by the end of 2023. The refiner has not yet decided whether to run the refinery at normal rates until 31 December or gradually reduce throughputs during the year.
