ExxonMobil Corp. has announced the start-up of its Beaumont refinery expansion project, which it says adds 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity to one of the largest petrochemical and refining complexes on the US Gulf Coast.
The energy giant touted the project as the largest refinery expansion in the U.S. since 2012, “equivalent to adding a medium-sized refinery.”
“The added volume at Beaumont increases its total processing capacity to more than 630,000 barrels per day, making it one of the largest refineries in the United States,” a news release said.
Data from the nation’s Energy Information Administration show that the Beaumont facility was the eighth-largest U.S. refinery in terms of operating capacity as of Jan. 1, 2022, when it had a peak output of 369,024 bpd. Motiva Enterprises LLC’s refinery in Port Arthur, also in Texas, was the largest at the time with a capacity of 626,000 bpd, followed by Marathon Petroleum Co.’s refinery. LP in Texas’ Galveston Bay with a capacity of 593,000 bpd.
ExxonMobil had two more refineries in the top 10 in this latest EIA update. Its Baytown, Texas refinery was the fourth largest with peak output of 560,500 bpd. In fifth place was the refinery in the city of Baton Rouge in Louisiana with a capacity of 520,000 bpd.
The Beaumont refinery “is connected to pipelines from ExxonMobil’s operations in the US Permian Basin, providing the company with significant strategic advantages,” ExxonMobil said.
“Permian crude is processed at the Beaumont refinery, where the company manufactures finished products such as diesel, gasoline and jet fuel,” he added.
“With the completion of the Wink to Webster and Beaumont pipelines, the new crude unit will also be well positioned to further capitalize on segregated crude from the Delaware Basin.”
The Beaumont expansion project began construction in 2019 with 1,700 contractors, according to ExxonMobil.
“ExxonMobil’s integrated operations in Beaumont also include chemical, lubricants and polyethylene plants. ExxonMobil has approximately 2,100 employees in the Beaumont area and its operations account for approximately 1 in 7 jobs in the region,” the company said.
Record refinement performance
ExxonMobil said in its 2022 earnings report that inflows to its refineries totaled four million bpd that year, “reflecting the best annual refining performance in North America and the highest globally since of 2012”.
However, energy products made a smaller contribution of $4.07 billion to ExxonMobil’s earnings in the fourth quarter of last year, which were $12.75 billion. Energy products revenue totaled $5.819 billion in the prior quarter.
But “continued industry refining margins partially offset an unfavorable derivative market value impact of $1 billion, primarily due to the absence of earnings from the prior quarter,” it said in a press release of January 31.
“Results for the year increased on the back of improved industry refining margins, which benefited from higher demand and lower inventories,” the company added. ExxonMobil’s 2022 revenue totaled $55.74 billion, up $32.7 billion from 2021’s $23.04 billion.
The company also announced in this report that its majority subsidiary Imperial Oil Ltd. will spend $560 million to build what ExxonMobil calls Canada’s largest renewable diesel facility. The Strathcona refinery project is expected to produce 20,000 bpd of renewable diesel.
Sourced primarily from local raw materials, the facility “is expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Canadian transportation sector by approximately 3 million metric tons per year,” ExxonMobil said in the report .
The company also announced the sale of several assets. A deal with Par Pacific Holdings in 2022 lets ExxonMobil’s refinery in the Montana town of Billings go and select midstream assets in Montana and Washington. Last year, an agreement was also signed with Italiana Petroli for the sale of its fuel business in Italy. In January, ExxonMobil signed an agreement with Bangchak Corporation for the sale of its stake in Esso Thailand.
To contact the author, please send an email jov.onsat@gmail.com
Photo Credit: iStock.com/attitude
