Independent US refiner Phillips 66 has purchased Venezuelan crude from the US administered sales, chief executive Mark Lashier said today, running the heavy crudes through refineries well suited for the grades.
"We're taking Venezuelan crude as we speak," Lashier said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, and the company will not "have to spend a dime of capital" to do it because it has assets designed to process the heavy sour grade.
Phillips 66 can take as much as 250,000 b/d of Venezuelan crude in its system but the crude will have to "be the right value to compete" with other heavy grades, Lashier added.
The refiner said previously that it can run Venezuelan crude at its 265,000 b/d Sweeny refinery in Old Ocean, Texas, and the 264,000 b/d refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
More Venezuelan heavy sour crude is hitting the global market after trading firms Trafigura and Vitol were approved by the US government to market unsanctioned Venezuelan oil following the US capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January.
Fellow US independent refiner Valero said last week that it has ramped up purchases of Venezuelan crude and expects it to be a major heavy feedstock this quarter.
Valero ran as much as 240,000 b/d of Venezuelan heavy crude in the past before US sanctions, but that was prior to installing a new coker at its 380,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery in 2023 which increased processing capacity for heavy crude.
Now, Valero can run Venezuelan crude "substantially north of that number," Valero's vice president of crude and feedstocks supply and trading Randy Hawkins said on a fourth-quarter earnings call.
US major Chevron is also planning to run more Venezuelan crude in its US refineries.
Chevron, which has been operating in Venezuela with state-owned PdV under a special waiver from US sanctions, has been running about 50,000 b/d of Venezuelan crude at its 356,500 b/d refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, chief executive Mike Wirth said last week.
Chevron can take another 100,000 b/d of Venezuelan crude into its system including at the Pascagoula facility and at the 285,000 b/d El Segundo refinery in southern California, where it has coking capacity, he said.
Washington on 29 January lifted sanctions on Venezuela's oil exports, with caveats prohibiting sales to Cuba, business deals involving many Chinese companies and oil-for-debt arrangements.
The lifting of sanctions will allow Venezuela's state-owned PdV to directly sell cargoes to any eligible buyer abroad.
