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Valero refineries to add to 95% of capability in Q2 2024

U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp prepares to run its 14 refineries up to 95% of their combined overall throughput capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2024, said Homer Bhullar, vice president of financier relations.

Valero's seven U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are planned to operate as much as 99% of their combined 1.9-million-bpd total throughput capacity, Bhullar stated throughout a teleconference to go over very first quarter results.

Valero, the country's second biggest refiner, said its refineries ran at 87% of capability in the very first quarter.

National refinery utilization has remained in the 80% range because the third week of January as refiners undertook prepared overhauls of plants that had actually been performing at high levels because mid-2021 as the United States left from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Valero expects a sustainable aviation fuel job, part of its Diamond Green Diesel collaboration with Darling Components , to come online at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery in the fourth quarter of this year, said President Lane Riggs. The job was initially expected to be total in 2025.

Gary Simmons, chief running officer, stated the business expects need for gas to be comparable to 2023.

We would expect gasoline demand to be flat to slightly up from last year, Simmons said. Automobile designs travel data is motivating and would suggest we could see some gas need surprise to the upside.

About 9 million barrels of gas were offered daily in the United States in 2023.

Simmons stated refinery expansions in the United States and worldwide appear to be peaking.

This year was the year where you had type of a peak in terms of brand-new capability additions, he stated. And after that from this point forward, you get to where worldwide petroleum need outpaces brand-new refinery capacity additions substantially, and we see a number of years of tightness.

The International Energy Company anticipates about 3 million bpd in international refining capability to be added in this decade.