Marathon Petroleum expects to increase heavy Canadian crude throughputs at its Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery following completion of a multi-year project it plans to finalize in the first quarter.
The South Texas Asset Repositioning (STAR) project will add 40,000 b/d of additional crude refining capacity and 17,000 b/d of residual fuel oil upgrading capacity to the existing 593,000 b/d Galveston facility, the company said on an earnings call this morning.
Marathon expects the remaining work on the project to be completed in a planned turnaround ending late in the first quarter before starting the units in April.
The refiner expects a boost in profits from increased diesel recovery following modifications made to Galveston's fractionator. "The refinery will also be able to process significantly more of the discounted heavy Canadian crude," refining executive vice president Timothy Aydt said.
Refiners able to process heavy crudes have benefited from large discounts on the oil compared to lighter grades over the last year. US independent refiner Valero said last week that it expects the discount to continue throughout 2023, with the company intending to process more following the first quarter completion of its Port Arthur, Texas, coker project.

