Valero to acquire former Houston refinery from LyondellBasell
Valero Energy Corp. announced Oct. 30 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Valero Refining-Texas LP, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all the outstanding equity interests of LYB Houston Hub Holdings LLC from a subsidiary of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. for a purchase price of $320.5 million, subject to closing adjustments.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and is expected to occur by the end of 2026.
LYB Houston indirectly owns an approximately 700-acre facility adjacent to Valero’s Houston refinery on the Houston Ship Channel in Texas that operated as a petroleum refinery.
Valero currently expects to initially restart 165,000 barrels per day of light sweet-crude processing capacity by the end of 2027.
The acquisition also provides the opportunity to later invest in high-complexity, heavy sour-crude processing.
“This acquisition is a unique opportunity to strategically expand Valero’s U.S. Gulf Coast footprint at a fraction of replacement value and enhance the long-term strength of our refining system,” said Lane Riggs, the chairman, CEO and president of Valero.
“It is expected to provide a compelling financial return, consistent with Valero’s disciplined capital-allocation framework, while generating attractive commercial optimization opportunities and supporting future investment in high-complexity, heavy sour-crude oil processing,” Riggs added.
Valero has prepared a presentation related to the transaction, which will be posted on its investor-relations website and furnished as an exhibit in a current report on Form 8-K.
Valero currently operates 14 petroleum refineries located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels per day.
Valero is a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which produces low-carbon fuels including renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with a production capacity of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year in the U.S. Gulf Coast region.
Valero also owns 12 ethanol plants located in the U.S. Mid-Continent region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.7 billion gallons per year.
