Saudi Aramco in Lead to Acquire Houston Refinery

Saudi Aramco, through its U.S. joint venture Motiva Enterprises, is in the lead to acquire LyondellBasell Industries’ Houston refinery.  Aramco-Motiva, along with Suncor Energy Inc. of Canada, have submitted proposals to Lyondell. An announcement of the sale is anticipated this week.

The refinery has been valued at approximately $1.5 billion, based on an average price from $5,000-$6,000 per barrel of refining capacity. The refinery has a rated capacity of 268,000 barrels per day.

The Netherlands-based Lyondell uses the Houston refinery at 12000 Lawndale for production of feedstocks used in its chemical plants. The refinery is capable of running less-expensive high-sulfur crude oil. It has been running Canadian oil during the past several years.

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