FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 2008
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Attends Groundbreaking for New Valero Refinery Expansion
Continues Three Day, 600 Mile Bus Tour with Gulf Coast Texans
PORT ARTHUR, TX -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior senator, today attended the groundbreaking for the new Valero Refinery expansion in Port Arthur. Nearly 125 people attended the event, including Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, Port Arthur Mayor Deloris “Bobbie” Prince, Jefferson County Judge Ron Walker, State Representative Allen Ritter, State Representative Joe Deshotel and State Representative Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton.
“I enjoyed being here at the Valero refinery expansion groundbreaking to highlight the importance of increasing domestic refinery capacity at a time when American consumers are struggling to afford gas prices,” said Sen. Hutchison.
The $2.4 billion expansion at Valero's Port Arthur Refinery will involve the construction of a 50,000 barrel-per-day hydrocracker, a 45,000 barrel-per-day coker and revamps and expansions of numerous other process units. This project is expected to boost Port Arthur's overall throughput capacity to 415,000 barrels per day, making it one of the country's largest refineries and giving Valero additional critical capacity to process crude oil.
The Port Arthur expansion project emphasizes ultra low sulfur diesel production, reflecting significant projected growth in demand for diesel both in the U.S. and around the world. The hydrocracker project is expected to go online in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the coker in the second quarter of 2011.
Approximately 2,000 contractors will be employed at the peak of construction. Additionally, there will be over 30 permanent jobs created as a result of the expansion.
Today is the final day of Sen. Hutchison’s three day, 600 mile bus tour with 16 stops throughout South Texas and the Gulf Coast. Sen. Hutchison launched the tour on Monday in Harlingen and will bring the trip to a close with this event at the San Jacinto Memorial in La Porte this evening.
Sen. Hutchison is a member of the Senate Republican Leadership as Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
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