Jan 27th, 2012: Citgo Petroleum Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Flint Hills Resources LLC are probably looking at expanding the crude capacity at their refineries in Texas that can access Eagle Ford crude, said Bob Kent, vice president of refining at Citgo.

“All these refiners are rumored to be in various stages of looking at expansions, additional crude capacity,” said Kent during a presentation at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston. “I’d be fairly certain that all three companies are looking very seriously at it.”

Bill Day, a spokesman for Valero in San Antonio, said the company has “definitely” increased the amount of Eagle Ford crude being processed at its Three Rivers and Corpus Christi plants and has processed some at the Houston refinery.

“We haven’t necessarily expanded crude capacity, but we have expanded the gathering systems that bring Eagle Ford to our refineries,” Day said in an e-mail response to questions.

NuStar Energy LP has agreed to modify and build pipeline sections to transport Eagle Ford and other crude oils to Valero refineries, according to a Sept. 7 statement. Flint Hills is considering an expansion of its Corpus Christi plant, though there are no “firm plans” to do so, Katie Stavinoha, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. “Flint Hills Resources has increased the amount of Eagle Ford domestic crude oil it processes in Corpus Christi substantially in the past year,” she said. The refinery can process 305,000 barrels of crude a day.

By Bloomberg