By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 21 -- Citgo Petroleum Corp., Houston, has completed a crude vacuum expansion project at its Lake Charles, La., refinery, increasing the facility's crude oil processing capacity to 425,000-440,000 b/d from 325,000 b/d. The additional capacity makes the complex the fourth largest refinery in the US, Citgo said.
The $293-million project involved installation of a crude vacuum distillation tower—the largest in the world set in one piece (see photo, OGJ, Apr. 26, 2004, p. 26). Citgo is owned by PDV America Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA.