Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Refinery capacity in the US remains in flux, with a major expansion drawing near even as another closure looms. Exxon Mobil’s 250,000 b/d expansion to its Beaumont, Texas, facility is starting up this quarter, the company has confirmed. “We have initiated start-up procedures [but] do not have a specific in-service date,” a spokesperson told Energy Intelligence. The expansion is nothing to sneeze at. Were it a standalone facility, the new crude distillation unit would rank 25th among US refineries by capacity, data from the US Energy Information Administration shows. Exxon’s Beaumont expansion is noteworthy since it is moving in the opposite direction of numerous other refineries in the US. Since mid-2019, the country has lost some 1 million b/d in refining capacity to a combination of unplanned outages, conversions to produce renewable fuels and poor economics. The pending closure of LyondellBasell’s 268,000 b/d Houston plant will soon add to the tally.
