This series has tackled a number of issues related to oil and natural gas field operations, but many of you have Aunt Ednas in your lives with questions about the downstream side of Chevron’s business — including gasoline, refineries and retail stations.
Chevron and Texaco gasolines contain Techron, an additive technology developed at our Richmond Technology Center. Techron protects car engines from deposit buildup that can form inside fuel injectors and on intake valves and interfere with a car’s performance. Many other gasolines use a deposit control additive based on polybutene amine chemistry (PBA) to help keep injectors clean, but too much PBA can actually increase deposits in the combustion chamber and lead to loss in fuel economy, higher tailpipe emissions, or loss of power.
Unlike PBA-based deposit control additives, Techron uses polyether amine chemistry (PEA), which cleans fuel injectors and intake valves while also helping to minimize harmful combustion chamber deposits. For more information about Techron, visit the Techron website.
This may be pretty technical for Aunt Edna, but it’s the chemistry behind cleaner engines and better performance.
Now for a quick refresher on how Chevron is structured, and a look at our refining and fuel marketing operations.
Chevron is an integrated energy company, meaning it operates along virtually every part of the oil and natural gas supply chain. “Upstream,” “midstream” and “downstream” refer to whether the function is nearer or further away from the final consumer. In the oil and natural gas industry, upstream undertakes exploration and production. Midstream is the link between areas of production and a company’s refining assets and regions of high consumption. Downstream includes processing facilities such as refineries that produce transportation fuels, lubricants, additives, petrochemicals and consumer products, as well as fuel stations.
Chevron has five U.S. refineries located in El Segundo and Richmond, California, Salt Lake City, Utah, Pascagoula, Mississippi and Pasadena, Texas. These facilities process crude oil into fuels, base oils and other products, many of which are marketed under the Chevron and Texaco brands.
The El Segundo Refinery is the largest on the West Coast and processes more than 274,000 barrels per day. It supplies 40 percent of the jet fuel used in Southern California and has over 20 percent of the gasoline market share. Visit the El Segundo Refinery website to learn more about its projects, history and community partnerships.
Chevron acquired the Pasadena Refinery on May 1, 2019. The refinery has the capacity to process approximately 110,000 barrels per day of light crude. It also has direct pipeline connections to increasing industry and equity crude oil production, connections to major product pipelines, and dock access to receive and ship crude oil and refined products. The refinery covers 323-acres, including a tank farm with a storage capacity of 5.1 million barrels of crude oil and refined products, as well as 143 acres of additional land.
The Pascagoula Refinery processes 330,000 barrels of crude daily. It is Chevron’s largest U.S. refinery and one of the top petroleum refineries in the U.S. It is the only oil refinery on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast, and is the primary provider of jet fuel to Tampa International Airport. Check out this Pascagoula by the Numbers infographic for more information, as well as this new video highlighting some of the refinery’s community partners in Jackson County, Mississippi.
Gasoline from the Richmond Refinery fuels 20 percent of the cars in Northern California, and about 60 percent of the planes at major Northern California airports use jet fuel from the refinery. On a daily basis, it processes almost 250,00 barrels of crude oil. The refinery is currently pursuing a $1 billion investment to replace older processing equipment with more modern technology that will reduce operational emissions and improve energy efficiency. See Modernization Project Overview for more information.
The Salt Lake Refinery processes 60,000 barrels per day, providing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to customers in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington. The Utah Clean Air Partnership recently named the refinery Clean Air Business Partner of the Year for its dedication to improving the state’s air quality.
Chevron markets its fuels through a network of branded Chevron and Texaco stations in the United States. While Chevron owns and operates some stations in the Western United States, most are owned and operated by retailers, marketers and marketer-served retailers who set their own fuel prices as independent business owners.
The ExtraMile convenience store brand is also part of Chevron’s retail marketing strategy; the first store opened more than 10 years ago and there are now nearly 800 stores in California, Oregon and Washington. Chevron and Jacksons Food Stores, Inc. recently entered into a joint venture for the ExtraMile franchise offer and the joint venture, ExtraMile Convenience Stores LLC, plans to expand the brand across more of the western United States.
Share the information above the next time you’re faced with a question about Chevron’s gasoline, refineries or retail stations.
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