FACTBOX-US Gulf refineries ready to run Venezuelan crude

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi, Texas to Pascagoula, Mississippi are configured to run the heavy sour, corrosive crude oil produced by Venezuela that President Donald Trump plans to sell in the U.S., following the capture last weekend of Nicolas Maduro.

Beginning in the 1990s, refiners reconfigured their plants with increased coking capacity and upgraded steel to be able to process growing supply from producers of dense, high-sulfur crude, like Venezuela, Mexico and Ecuador.

Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA purchased two U.S. refineries and partnered with Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Lyondell Basell LYB.N in two others.

However, in the early 21st century, with production in Latin America falling, Midwestern refineries, which had received Venezuelan crude, switched to heavy crude from Canadian oil fields. The reversal of the Capline pipeline in 2021 cut off the major supply route for Latin American crude to the Midwest.

Following are the Gulf Coast refineries that could run Venezuelan crude.

Texas

Source U.S. EIA

*The Pemex Deer Park refinery is owned by Mexico's national oil company and primarily runs crude from Mexico, making it unlikely it will buy Venezuelan crude.

Louisiana

Source: U.S. EIA

Mississippi

Source: U.S. EIA