By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 21 -- Lyondell-Citgo Refining LP (LCR)—a joint venture of Houston-based Lyondell Chemical Co. and Citgo Petroleum Corp.—reported that it has restarted its second crude distillation unit, which now is operating at 220,000-230,000 b/d. The increase, says Lyondell, is due to "improved availability of both spot and Venezuelan contract crude."
The JV added, "Based on currently available information, LCR expects to be able to sustain these rates."
Citgo, the fifth-largest retailer of gasoline in the US, had been one of the hardest hit by the oil industry strike in Venezuela because it relies on that country for about half of its crude under long-term contracts (OGJ, Jan. 6, 2003, p. 5).
LCR's Houston plant recently cut its production by half due to the lack of Venezuelan oil. Other companies, including ConocoPhillips and Amerada Hess Corp., also have slowed production at refineries that rely on Venezuelan crude.
