Houston energy company to build largest new refinery in half a century

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Scott Downey

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Likely only cause Trump was elected. This is quite a change.

Will use our own oil, shale oil. Most refineries in US use heavy oils from Canada or Venezuela.
Operational in 2027

A Houston company will construct the largest new refinery in the last 50 years in Brownsville, Texas.

Element Fuel Holdings LLC is spending between $3 and $4 billion on the project, which will produce more than 160,000 barrels per day of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from shale oil production, according to a report by the Houston Business Journal.


"Since no one's built a refinery in 50 years, there's probably a better way to do it. Let's optimize it," Element Fuels founder and co-CEO John Calce told the business outlet.

The refinery will be located in the Port of Brownsville and constructed in three phases. The first construction phase includes building a naphtha hydrotreater and reformer, which is expected to be operational by 2027. Element will also build a power plant that uses hydrogen and natural gas to produce energy and include carbon capture and storage to reduce the facility's carbon footprint.

Element Fuels told the Houston Business Journal that it intends to produce enough hydrogen to supply all the refinery's power needs, significantly reducing the refinery's emissions compared to older refineries that run on diesel.

The Houston-based firm said that in its second phase, it will also add a crude distillation unit and diesel hydrotreater. In its third phase, the refinery will investigate using excess hydrogen and carbon dioxide to make biofuels.


According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, refinery utilization rates are forecasted to average 90.3 percent in 2024, a significant increase from the 2020 pandemic low of 78.8 percent, offering a hopeful outlook for the industry's growth and the prices upstream of gasoline.

Refinery activity reached 95.4 percent capacity in June, processing 17.584 million barrels per day of crude oil and other feedstocks, according to the EIA. This surge in activity has led to gasoline and other feedstock inventories growing well above figures from the same period in 2023 and 2022.

Element plans to process U.S. shale oil, which is a type of light crude that older refineries in the country are not optimized to handle. The company expects to provide 1,000 new jobs in Brownsville and grow its Houston headcount by about 80 employees.
 
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bluedragon

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Now they need new power plants as well. A minimum of two sources of power goes into each of these refineries. At least four manufacturers realized the need for motor bus transfer when a power plant falters. The switch has to be immediate or at least half of the refinery goes down. You then need at least six months to get back on line. Do this right and protect this new plant.
 

Truth7t7

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Likely only cause Trump was elected. This is quite a change.

Will use our own oil, shale oil. Most refineries in US use heavy oils from Canada or Venezuela.
Operational in 2027

A Houston company will construct the largest new refinery in the last 50 years in Brownsville, Texas.

Element Fuel Holdings LLC is spending between $3 and $4 billion on the project, which will produce more than 160,000 barrels per day of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from shale oil production, according to a report by the Houston Business Journal.


"Since no one's built a refinery in 50 years, there's probably a better way to do it. Let's optimize it," Element Fuels founder and co-CEO John Calce told the business outlet.

The refinery will be located in the Port of Brownsville and constructed in three phases. The first construction phase includes building a naphtha hydrotreater and reformer, which is expected to be operational by 2027. Element will also build a power plant that uses hydrogen and natural gas to produce energy and include carbon capture and storage to reduce the facility's carbon footprint.

Element Fuels told the Houston Business Journal that it intends to produce enough hydrogen to supply all the refinery's power needs, significantly reducing the refinery's emissions compared to older refineries that run on diesel.

The Houston-based firm said that in its second phase, it will also add a crude distillation unit and diesel hydrotreater. In its third phase, the refinery will investigate using excess hydrogen and carbon dioxide to make biofuels.


According to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, refinery utilization rates are forecasted to average 90.3 percent in 2024, a significant increase from the 2020 pandemic low of 78.8 percent, offering a hopeful outlook for the industry's growth and the prices upstream of gasoline.

Refinery activity reached 95.4 percent capacity in June, processing 17.584 million barrels per day of crude oil and other feedstocks, according to the EIA. This surge in activity has led to gasoline and other feedstock inventories growing well above figures from the same period in 2023 and 2022.

Element plans to process U.S. shale oil, which is a type of light crude that older refineries in the country are not optimized to handle. The company expects to provide 1,000 new jobs in Brownsville and grow its Houston headcount by about 80 employees.
Good to hear, when Trump mentioned tariffs on foreign countries the elites starting flocking to Mar-A-Lago to have dinner with the boss, when tariffs actually hit on Apr 2, 2025 the world will be made believers real quick, the 2 Trillion in promised investment presently will triple before the end of the year $$$

As it stands the tariff card is working, and I loved to see the additional tariff on any country buying oil from Venezuela

To dream of the thought of America making so much money that the IRS turns into the (I)nternal (R)eturn (S)ervice giving monies back to American citizens?

Trump MAGA, America First!
 
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Dan Clarkston

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To dream of the thought of America making so much money that the IRS turns into the (I)nternal (R)eturn (S)ervice giving monies back to American citizens?

Yeah, keep dreaming... this nation has over $2OO Trillion in unfunded liabilities so
any excess money needs to go to that so out economy does not implode



Trump MAGA, America First!

Jesus Christ FIRST.... idolatry ends badly ya know. agree.gif

Christ_has_Risen.jpg
 

JohnDB

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Refineries are only supposed to be at 90% production capacity due to repairs and maintenance. When seals go bad and distillates begin to leak there's a fire hazard created...especially due to static electricity.

And if a refinery goes down due to fire....the others pick up the slack.

However.....most of the refining these days is done at the wells offshore on platforms in the Gulf of America/Mexico.
 

Dan Clarkston

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most of the refining these days is done at the wells offshore on platforms in the Gulf of America/Mexico.

Er no... the oil is taken to refineries for processing.

They don't build refineries out in the ocean next to the oil rigs rolleyes2.gif
 

JohnDB

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Er no... the oil is taken to refineries for processing.

They don't build refineries out in the ocean next to the oil rigs View attachment 60562
Actually they do....I know right it's kinda odd.

But apparently these oil rigs that pump out the oil in the gulf refine off the gasoline and diesel first then the remaining bitumen is sold as well. These platforms are huge these days....billions of dollars to produce.

Most land based refineries in the US refine the oils that resemble sludge or bitumen....and even that stuff from abroad . We don't primarily refine off petroleum for gasoline and diesel anymore. (We used to...but stopped due to EPA making it too expensive) most land based refineries in the US refine bitumen and not the raw petroleum.

But usually we don't produce a lot of gasoline onshore

Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms:
These are large structures (often called rigs or platforms) designed to drill, extract, and process oil and natural gas from beneath the ocean floor.

Types of Platforms:
Fixed Platforms: These are built on the ocean floor, often in shallower waters.
Floating Platforms: Used in deeper waters, these platforms float on the surface and are anchored to the seabed.
Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) Vessels: These are large, tanker-like vessels that process and store oil, and then offload it to other ships or pipelines.
 

JohnDB

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Actually they do not... build gigantic refineries out on the ocean to refine crude oil in to gasoline
There are 2 AI and multitudes of job offers I've turned down that say otherwise.
 

Dan Clarkston

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There are 2 AI and multitudes of job offers I've turned down that say otherwise.

You should educate yourself on how oil production works...
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/offshore-drilling.htm

There are no refineries on oil rigs out in the Gulf of America... the crude oil they produce is sent by tankers to refineries that are on land

"AI" has been feeding yo a line of BULLoney funny.gif



Big takeaway is the refinery will be built to use US produced crude oil.

Drill baby drill! thumbsup2.gif
 

JohnDB

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You should educate yourself on how oil production works...
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/offshore-drilling.htm

There are no refineries on oil rigs out in the Gulf of America... the crude oil they produce is sent by tankers to refineries that are on land

"AI" has been feeding yo a line of BULLoney View attachment 60745





Drill baby drill! View attachment 60744
The refineries offshore are not the same as land based refineries. The oil rig decks offshore just crack off the gasoline and diesel. That's all. (RBOB....LEARN THAT LITTLE NUGGET as well as WTI and Brent and the difference) That stuff is the profit margin usually. The remaining bitumen is what is processed in land based refineries.

Canada has a high Sulphur content refinery up in Oil Sands Alberta....that bitumen is what the Yellowstone pipeline is all about. Honestly that bitumen is only used by China. Nobody else wants it. Nobody can use it. (Environment) but they still get the gasoline off it first. Eastern Canada has the plastic producing bitumen. Texas and the gulf makes a lit of diesel....Mexico and South America make mostly gasoline and a little motor oil and lubricants.
 

Dan Clarkston

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The refineries offshore are not the same as land based refineries. The oil rig decks offshore just crack off the gasoline and diesel.
laughing2.gif

What comes out of the earth is crude oil... not gasoline or diesel

You thinking of natural gas which is commonly found in the upper parts of large oil deposits and oil riggs burn that off... and sometimes it is captured and put on tankers.

There is no gasoline or diesel coming out of the ground as a by product of crude oil production like natural gas is.
 

JohnDB

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View attachment 60928

What comes out of the earth is crude oil... not gasoline or diesel

You thinking of natural gas which is commonly found in the upper parts of large oil deposits and oil riggs burn that off... and sometimes it is captured and put on tankers.

There is no gasoline or diesel coming out of the ground as a by product of crude oil production like natural gas is.
Believe whatever fantasies you want.

I know EXACTLY what they do.
Light sweet crude is petroleum pumped out that has water and sand removed.
Bitumen is crude that has the gasoline or diesel cracked off. And both products (not light sweet crude) is sold off the platforms in the Gulf. Some do just pump the oil and remove the water and sand....but not many anymore. And occasionally some will go north for Alaskan oil.

UAE just finished building a bunch of refineries and was hoping for more larger contracts at the OPEC table. (They didn't get them)

Oil is not just oil....and yes gasses come off some of the wells. Most are toxic gasses. Some have Natural gas as well as the toxic gasses. Because not all oil is the same and refinery time is extremely precious. All refineries are running at or past capacity. Even offshore platforms.