Valero's $230 Million Refinery FCCU Revamp Project Commissioned

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 22, U.S. refining company Valero Energy Corporation announced that the $230 million fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) optimization project at its St. Charles refinery in Louisiana was completed and placed into operation in the third quarter, with the project finished on schedule and within budget. Following the revamp, the unit's feedstock processing capacity increased by 15,000 barrels per day, while production capacity for high-value products such as gasoline and alkylate was also enhanced. The refinery has a crude oil processing capacity of approximately 340,000 barrels per day.

The St. Charles refinery is located in Norco, Louisiana, approximately 40 kilometers from New Orleans. The project mainly involved installing a new compressor and upgrading the existing FCCU equipment to increase the processing capacity for resid feedstock. According to the design plan Valero previously disclosed to investors, the revamp was expected to increase propylene production by 3,000 barrels per day and, by utilizing the spare processing capacity of the refinery's downstream alkylation unit, increase alkylate production by 6,000 barrels per day and gasoline production by an additional 8,000 barrels per day. The above product increments are design expectations and are not the actual operating volumes announced by the company this time.

Valero first announced the St. Charles FCCU optimization plan in 2021. In July 2026, the company confirmed the project investment at $230 million and expected construction and startup to be completed in the third quarter of that year. The quarterly earnings announcement confirmed that the unit has entered the operational phase as planned.

Financial data released alongside the project completion announcement showed that Valero's net income attributable to shareholders reached $6.8 billion in the third quarter of 2026, compared with $1.1 billion in the same period last year. Operating income from the refining segment was $8.8 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in the same period last year; the company's refineries processed an average of approximately 3 million barrels of crude oil per day during the quarter.