Houston, Texas: Valero to Buy Shuttered LyondellBasell Refinery for $320.5 Million and Restart It

A shuttered refinery on the Houston Ship Channel is set to change hands and, if the plan holds, run again. Valero Energy said on October 30 that its subsidiary Valero Refining-Texas, L.P. has agreed to acquire all the outstanding equity interests of LYB Houston Hub Holdings LLC from a subsidiary of LyondellBasell Industries for a purchase price of $320.5 million, subject to closing adjustments.

The site covers about 700 acres on the Houston Ship Channel, next to Valero's existing Houston refinery. The transaction includes 13.5 million barrels of storage capacity and logistics infrastructure that includes marine docks, rail loading facilities and truck racks, according to Oil and Gas Journal's account of the deal.

A restart targeted for the end of 2027

Valero expects to initially restart 165,000 barrels per day of light sweet crude processing capacity at the site by the end of 2027. The company says the acquisition also gives it the opportunity to invest later in high complexity, heavy sour crude processing, but it has given no financial details or timetable for any heavy sour project.

"This acquisition is a unique opportunity to strategically expand Valero's U.S. Gulf Coast footprint at a fraction of replacement value and enhance the long-term strength of our refining system," said Lane Riggs, Valero's chairman, chief executive officer and president.

In an October 30 presentation, the company said the site would help address intermediate feedstock shortages across its U.S. Gulf Coast refining system, reducing reliance on third party purchases. Incremental FCC and hydrocracker feed production would cut external feedstock sourcing, and excess hydrotreating capacity could be used to upgrade intermediates from other Valero Gulf Coast refineries.

What LyondellBasell hands over

Under the agreement, Valero will assume responsibility for ongoing site operations, environmental liabilities, pension costs and other employee related obligations, Zacks reported. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and is expected by the end of 2026.

LyondellBasell announced plans in April 2022 to cease operation of its subsidiary Houston Refining LP's 268,000 barrel per day refinery as part of its exit from the crude oil refining business. After delays, the refinery was shuttered in March 2025. The company weighed other options for the site over the years, including a potential plan to turn it into a hydrogen production site, and said selling the asset offered the most compelling opportunity to advance its priorities.

Valero, based in San Antonio, operates 14 petroleum refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with combined throughput capacity of about 3.0 million barrels per day. The Houston deal puts an idled plant back in the hands of a refiner whose main business is refining, next door to a plant it already runs.