Chevron Corp. is undertaking a project that will expand processing of light tight oil (LTO) and increase overall crude capacity at subsidiary Pasadena Refining System Inc.’s (PRSI) 110,000-b/d refinery in Pasadena, Tex. (OGJ Online, Jan. 31, 2019).
Alongside increasing the site’s processing of lighter crudes by about 15% to 125,000 b/d, the LTO project will enable the refinery to produce jet fuel, improve process safety, and reduce emissions, Chevron confirmed to OGJ via e-mail.
Recently granted regulatory approval to proceed, the estimated $400-million project specifically will allow PRSI to boost its take of LTO crude feedstock produced in the Permian basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, according to the operator.
In addition to strengthening the refinery’s product flexibility and supply to a portion of retail markets in Texas and Louisiana, the Pasadena expansion provides Chevron with additional capacity to process its own equity crude production in the Permian, where in second-quarter 2022, the operator averaged net production of 696,000 boe/d, a year-over-year increase of more than 20% and up slightly from first-quarter 2022 (OGJ Online, July 29, 2022; Apr. 29, 2022).
"Our mission is safe, reliable, profitable operations, and this project checks all those boxes,” said Tim Sutherland, general manager of the Pasadena refinery and its LTO project.
In 2022-23, Chevron said LTO project activities will include completing final design engineering, building foundations, and installing equipment, while pipe fabrication and interconnections with equipment will continue in 2023-24.
With preliminary construction works at the site already under way, the operator said it expects to test equipment and reach mechanical completion of the project in 2024, Chevron said in a recent presentation to local citizen advisory councils.
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 expansion.
Project plans
While precise details of the Pasadena LTO investment have yet to be fully revealed, the project will involve a mix of works, including the permanent shutdown of existing but historically unreliable units, as well as the modification and reconfiguration of other units, according to Chevron and recent project documents from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Among other unit modifications and shutdowns, parts of the site’s existing FCC and alkylation units—which will be permanently shuttered as part of the LTO project—will be repurposed as prefractionation equipment for the expanded crude unit, according to TCEQ documents.
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.