HOUSTON, Texas — A Houston ship channel refinery that went dark early last year is set to make fuel again after Valero Energy agreed to buy it from LyondellBasell for $320.5 million.
Valero, through its Valero Refining-Texas unit, is taking over a site of about 700 acres that sits right next to its own Houston refinery. Along with the processing units, the deal brings 13.5 million barrels of storage, marine docks, rail loading and truck racks.
The San Antonio company plans to bring 165,000 barrels a day of light sweet crude processing back online by the end of 2027. Chief executive Lane Riggs said the site could later support spending on heavier, sour crude, though Valero gave no cost or timeline for that step.
Valero told investors the plant will help ease shortages of partly refined feedstock across its Gulf Coast refineries, so it buys less from outside suppliers. Spare hydrotreating capacity at the Houston site could also be used to upgrade material from its other plants in the region.
For LyondellBasell, the sale ends a long wind-down. The company said in April 2022 it would leave the refining business and close the plant, a fuel maker dating to 1918 whose workforce numbered roughly 400 before it closed. It later weighed other uses for the land, including hydrogen production and an advanced recycling plant, before deciding to sell.
LyondellBasell said the buyer is also assuming day-to-day running of the site plus its environmental, pension and worker liabilities. Both sides expect to finish the sale before 2026 is out, once federal antitrust review and routine conditions are cleared.
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