LyondellBasell closes Houston refinery, calling it a “strategic and financial decision”

On Thursday, the company announced that it plans to close its refinery by the end of 2023. The company calls this a “strategic and financial decision.”

“LyondellBasell’s Houston refinery has a rated capacity of converting 268,000 barrels per day of crude oil into fuels for transportation and other products, including lubricants, chemical intermediates and petroleum coke,” the company said in a statement on its website.

A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyondell announced that it would lay off 10% of its refining workforce.

When ABC13 informed LyondellBasell how many jobs would be impacted, the company said, “Approximately 550 LyondellBasell employees are currently working at the Houston refinery. We are still very much at the beginning of the process. We are committed to doing whatever we can to help our employees through this transition. We are evaluating options for the affected employees.”