Motiva Enterprises’ 626,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas refinery, the largest in the United States, was operating normally on Wednesday after upsets on Tuesday caused by severe storms, said people familiar with plant operations.

A Motiva spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

Charge pumps on the 42,000-bpd jet-kerosene hydrotreater 2 and 19,200-bpd lube oil hydrocracker restarted overnight after being knocked out during the Tuesday evening storm, the sources said.

A lube oil production unit was also knocked out of operation following the storm but was working again by Wednesday morning, according to the sources.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Bradley Perrett)

Valero Energy kicks off U.S. refiners’ earnings with profit beat

Refiner Valero Energy Corp VLO.N topped profit estimates on Thursday, boosted by higher demand for fuel and healthy refining margins as crude supplies remained tight.

U.S. refineries have run at record levels last year, aided by a quick recovery in domestic sales and strong exports demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Our refineries operated at a 97 percent capacity utilization rate in the fourth quarter, which is the highest utilization rate for our system since 2018,” Chief Executive Officer Joe Gorder said in a statement.

The company reported adjusted net income of $3.2 billion, or $8.45 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $7.37 per share.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)