Lyondell to start closure of Houston refinery this weekend, sources say

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) will start the everlasting closure of its 263,776 barrel-per-day Houston refinery this coming weekend, stated folks aware of plant operations.

Layoffs of as much as 400 staff on the refinery are scheduled to start two months after the shutdown begins, the sources stated.

A Lyondell spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Lyondell plans to transform current hydrotreaters on the refinery web site alongside the Houston Ship Channel to be used with gear to be added after 2027 to supply plastic pellets from recycled plastic objects.

Lyondell stated in November shuttering the refinery would start in January and end in February. The corporate plans to close the primary of two crude distillation models (CDUs) and related coker in January. The second CDU, models fed by it and its related coker, will shut between mid and late February.

Lyondell first introduced plans to close the refinery inside a yr in 2023, after failing in makes an attempt over seven years to promote it, however prolonged the timing of the closure by a yr to the primary quarter of 2025.

The Lyondell plant is the primary of two U.S. refineries deliberate for closure this yr. Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) stated in October it should shutter its Los Angeles refinery by the top of 2025.

Valero Vitality (NYSE:VLO) is reviewing the way forward for its two California refineries for doable closure, citing the state’s plans to section out gross sales of recent gasoline-powered vehicles by the center of the following decade.

Hydrotreaters use hydrogen to take away sulfur from motor fuels in compliance with U.S. environmental guidelines.

CDUs start the refining of crude oil by breaking it down into feedstocks for all different models on the refinery. Cokers convert residual crude oil into both feedstocks for motor fuels or petroleum coke, a coal substitute.