CITGO Advances $310 Million Lake Charles Refinery Revamp

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 1, CITGO Petroleum Corporation confirmed it is moving forward with the Depentanizer project at its Lake Charles, Louisiana refinery, with an investment of $310 million. The project will add new facilities and equipment within the existing refinery to upgrade the naphtha processing segment, converting a portion of low-value refinery streams into gasoline blending components. The project is scheduled to begin operations in 2029, with engineering design, construction, and subsequent commissioning activities to proceed in accordance with the project schedule.

The project scope centers on the naphtha processing system at the Lake Charles refinery. CITGO stated that once the new depentanizer unit is operational, the refinery will increase its processing capacity for naphtha streams associated with domestic light crude oil processing and boost gasoline blending component output. The company did not disclose the design processing capacity of the new depentanizer unit, the specific scale of gasoline production increase, the EPC contractor, equipment suppliers, or the construction start date.

The project has shown stage changes within the 2026 capital plan. When CITGO released its second-quarter results, it listed the Lake Charles depentanizer project as a strategic capital project, but project funding arrangements were deferred at that time. The company simultaneously lowered its 2026 capital expenditure and turnaround and catalyst spending forecast from $985 million to $867 million; the adjustment also included postponing the coker turnaround at the Lake Charles refinery to 2027. The latest project update released on September 1 clearly sets the investment amount at $310 million with a 2029 startup target.

Located along the Calcasieu Ship Channel, the Lake Charles refinery is the largest of CITGO's three refineries, with a current rated refining capacity of approximately 479,000 barrels per day. It can process various crude oil types, producing gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and petrochemical products. CITGO also operates the Corpus Christi and Lemont refineries, with the three refineries having a combined rated crude processing capacity of approximately 829,000 barrels per day.

In 2025, the three CITGO refineries processed an average total throughput of approximately 833,000 barrels per day, including crude runs of approximately 760,000 barrels per day, with an average crude utilization rate of 92%. Full-year capital expenditures were $478 million, and turnaround and catalyst spending totaled $231 million. After completing crude unit maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Lake Charles refinery set consecutive monthly records for crude runs, total throughput, and total production in November and December.