Valero to complete Port Arthur coker in 1Q

Market: Biofuels, Oil products, Petroleum coke
26/01/23

US independent refiner Valero expects a new coker at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to be complete in the first quarter and to begin processing crude in the second quarter.

The Port Arthur coker project will add 55,000 b/d refining capacity to the existing 335,000 b/d of capacity at the Port Arthur site. Valero expects the coker to be mechanically complete in late February or early March and to begin processing crude in late April or early May, according to comments made on a fourth quarter earnings call this morning.

Valero said it will refine significantly more heavy, sour crude at the Port Arthur facility once the project is complete.

Adding the delayed coker and sulfur recovery unit to the existing refinery will create two independent coker trains and improve turnaround efficiency. Valero conducts the bulk of its refinery maintenance in the first quarter of each year.

The Port Arthur coker will have a "significant earnings contribution" in the second half of 2023, chief executive Joe Gorder said today.

Wolfe Research analyst Sam Margolin said on the call today that Valero's Port Arthur site was probably the "most valuable fuels complex in the world" with the additional coker and new renewable diesel refining capacity from a separate project, DGD III.

By Nathan Risser

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