Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor
Chevron USA Inc. has completed its purchase from Petrobras America Inc. of all outstanding shares and equity interests of Pasadena Refining System Inc., which includes the refinery in Pasadena, Tex., and PRSI Trading LLC for $350 million, excluding working capital (OGJ Online, Jan. 31, 2019).
As part of the deal, completed on May 1, Chevron acquired the 110,000-b/d Pasadena refinery, direct pipeline connections to increasing industry and equity crude oil production, connections to major product pipelines, as well as waterborne access to receive and ship crude oil and refined products, Chevron said.
The 466-acre Pasadena refining complex includes the 323-acre refinery, 5.1 million bbl of oil and products storage capacity, an associated marine terminal and logistics system, and 143 acres of additional land along the Houston Ship Channel usable for potential future expansion.
With the addition of the Pasadena refinery, Chevron USA adds a second refinery to its US Gulf Coast downstream business, which also includes the 340,000-b/d refinery Pascagoula, Miss.
“This acquisition builds on the strength of our existing [USGC] business, enabling us to supply more of our retail market in the region with Chevron-produced products, and positions us for connectivity to our strong upstream assets in the Permian basin,” said Mark Nelson, Chevron’s executive vice-president for downstream and chemicals.
Downstream divestment plans
Closing of the sale follows Petrobras’s Apr. 26 announcement that, under new guidelines for its broader portfolio management, the company is considering additional sales of assets with an emphasis on the downstream segment.
The new guidelines consider the sale of assets, with emphasis on downstream segment, including the full sale of Petrobras Uruguay Distribucion SA, which operates a network of service stations in Uruguay; eight of its Brazilian refineries with total refining capacity of 1.1 million b/d; and the additional sale of its stake in Petrobras Distribuidora, with Petrobras remaining as a relevant shareholder.
The downstream assets included in the proposed divestment program include Refinaria Abreu e Lima, Unidade de Industrializacao do Xisto, Refinaria Landulpho Alves, Refinaria Gabriel Passos, Refinaria Presidente Getulio Vargas, Refinaria Alberto Pasqualini, Refinaria Isaac Sabba, and Lubrificantes e Derivados de Petroleo do Nordeste.
Alongside repositioning the company’s portfolio to higher-yielding assets, the refineries’ divestment projects also will allow for the increase in competitiveness and transparency of the downstream business in Brazil in line with the National Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels Agency of Brazil’s position and recommendations of the country’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Petrobras said.
While the company did not disclose a specific timeframe for the refinery divestment program, Petrobras did say the divestment projects will follow the operator’s established divestment methodology and would have their main phases revealed to the market in a timely manner.
