Miscellaneous One Off News Stories

Beth Gallagher said:
A bit of good news for Houston. Valero Energy Corporation announced an agreement to acquire LyondellBasell’s shuttered Houston oil refinery for $320.5 million through its subsidiary, Valero Refining-Texas. A ~700-acre facility on the Houston Ship Channel (adjacent to Valero's existing Houston refinery), where Valero plans to restart 165,000 barrels per day (BPD) of light sweet crude processing capacity by the end of 2027. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

This will add 300+ jobs and a significant refining capability. The historic plant (originally built in 1918) was shut down by LyondellBasell in early 2025 as the company shifted away from refining.
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Are there concerns regarding permitting?
 
Beth Gallagher said:
None have been mentioned. The plant was moth-balled but maintained by a crew; it has only been shuttered for about a year. The biggest hurdle right now is the "anti-trust" BS.
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You know more about the industry than I do. I know that Valero is sizeable, but it's nowhere near the size of the Exxon's of the world, is it? Kinda tough to argue "anti-trust" for a global commodity, except I guess that refining is a more regional market than crude.
 
John Brunner said:
You know more about the industry than I do. I know that Valero is sizeable, but it's nowhere near the size of the Exxon's of the world, is it? Kinda tough to argue "anti-trust" for a global commodity, except I guess that refining is a more regional market than crude.
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I had to look that up because I don't know much about Valero; apparently Exxon is about 7X larger and more diversified. You might remember that Diamond Shamrock branded gas stations became "Valero," at least in the south. I remember that Valero bought the Benecia CA refinery from Exxon about 20 years ago but has recently shuttered that facility.

I remember that Exxon and Mobil had similar anti-trust issues when they "merged" (although Exxon bought Mobil, it was called a merger.)
 
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