ExxonMobil to expand Texas refinery into biggest in US

ExxonMobil is considering a multibillion-dollar plan to expand its Beaumont, Texas, refinery into the country’s largest and the first major refining investment of the US shale oil boom. The investment would be a further indication that the American oil giant is breaking ranks with many of its big global rivals, who have been looking to sell off refining assets across the world.

The expansion of the 344,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont refinery, if carried out, would be completed by 2020 and potentially double its size with the addition of a third crude distillation unit (CDU). 

A bigger Beaumont refinery would bolster the US Gulf Coast’s position as a top global supplier of gasoline and diesel at a time when domestic demand is falling. Profits for Gulf Coast refiners have swollen as cheaper North American crude allows them to capture big margins when exporting refined products.

ExxonMobil announced plans on July 2 to invest $1 billion to build a delayed coking unit at its 320,000 bpd Antwerp, Belgium, refinery so the plant could refine cheaper high-density, high-sulfur crude oils. That was on top of a previous $1 billion in upgrades to the Antwerp refinery.

US biggest refinery is Motiva’s 600,250 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, plant. Exxon is considering making the Beaumont plant bigger than Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery. Motiva, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco, invested $10 billion to expand its Port Arthur refinery from 285,000 bpd. In addition to a 325,000 bpd CDU, the project added multiple units and was completed in 2012.