Texas is known as an oil and gas state, and with oil and gas production comes the need for refineries. As of 2022, there were 130 oil refineries operating in the United States and 29 of those are found in Texas. The vast majority of Texas refineries are found near the Gulf of Mexico.
Texas Oil Refineries
Below is a list of active oil refineries in Texas as of January 1, 2022:
Beaumont
Beaumont Refinery (369,024 barrels per day) – ExxonMobil
Big Spring
Big Spring Refinery (73,000 barrels per day) – Alon USA / Delek Group Ltd
Borger
Borger Refinery (149,000 barrels per day) – WRB Refining LP / Phillips 66
Channelview
Channelview Refinery Complex (45,000 barrels per day) – Hartree / LyondellBasell
Corpus Christi
Bill Greehey Refineries East and West (290,000 barrels per day) – Valero
Citgo Corpus Christi Refinery (167,500 barrels per day) – Citgo
Buckeye Corpus Christi Refinery (60,000 barrels per day) – Buckeye Texas Processing
Magellan Refinery Corpus Christi (42,500 barrels per day) – Magellan Midstream
Corpus Christi East Refinery (73,500 barrels per day) – Flint Hills Resources
Corpus Christi West Refinery (265,000 barrels per day) – Flint Hills Resources
Deer Park
Deer Park Refinery (312,500 barrels per day) – Pemex
El Paso
El Paso Refinery (131,000 barrels per day) – Western Refining / Marathon Petroleum
Galena Park
Galena Park Refinery (84,000 barrels per day) – Kinder Morgan
Galveston
Galveston Refinery (45,000 barrels per day) – Texas International Terminals
Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay Refinery (593,000 barrels per day) – Marathon Petroleum
Houston
Houston Refinery (263,776 barrels per day) – Houston Refining / Access Industries
Valero Houston Refinery (205,000 barrels per day) – Valero
Houston Refinery (25,000 barrels per day) – Petromax Refining
Nixon
Nixon Refinery (14,000 barrels per day) – Lazarus Energy / Blue Dolphin
Pasadena
Pasadena Refinery (112,229 barrels per day) – Chevron
Port Arthur
Port Arthur Refinery (626,000 barrels per day) – Motiva
Port Arthur Refinery (335,000 barrels per day) – Premcor / Valero
Port Arthur Refinery (238,000 barrels per day) – TotalEnergies
San Antonio
San Antonio Refinery (20,000 barrels per day) – Starlight Relativity Acquisition Co.
Sunray
McKee Oil Refinery (195,000 barrels per day) – Diamond Shamrock / Valero
Sweeny
Sweeny Refinery (265,000 barrels per day) – Phillips 66
Texas City
Texas City Refinery (225,000 barrels per day) – Valero
Three Rivers
Three Rivers Oil Refinery (89,000 barrels per day) – Diamond Shamrock / Valero
Tyler
Tyler Refinery (75,000 barrels per day) – Delek
Accidents At Texas Refineries
Texas has more refineries than any other state. When these are not properly managed or maintained, accidents happen. When accidents happen, it is workers and their families who pay the price.
Below are some recent notable accidents that have occurred at Texas refineries.
- March 2005 – Explosion at BP Texas City Refinery kills 15 workers and injures more than 100.
- October 2006 – Worker is killed after falling from a ladder at the Flint Hills refinery in Corpus Christi.
- February 2007 – McKee Refinery in Sunray shut down after three employees are burned in a propane fire.
- July 2007 – Hydrogen sulfide leak at Valero refinery in Port Arthur sends dozens of people to the hospital.
- February 2008 – Explosion at Alon USA refinery in Big Spring injures five workers.
- July 2008 – Crane collapse at Houston’s Lyondell refinery kills four workers and injures seven.
- November 2008 – Delek refinery in Tyler explodes, killing two workers and injuring several others.
- July 2009 – Citgo refinery in Corpus Christi explodes and releases toxic hydrogen fluoride vapor.
- December 2009 – Explosion at Valero refinery in Texas City kills one worker and injures others.
- April 2010 – Man is killed in a crane collapse at Port Arthur’s Motiva refinery.
- May 2010 – Fire erupts in Lyondell refinery in Houston.
- May 2010 – Tanker truck explosion injures worker at Calumet Refinery in San Antonio.
- November 2010 – Shell’s Deer Park refinery is shut down after several workers are injured in a fire.
- December 2011 – One worker is injured when a fire breaks out at a Pasadena refinery owned by Petrobras.
- December 2011 – Texas City Valero refinery explosion kills one worker.
- August 2012 – A construction accident at Total’s Port Arthur refinery kills one worker.
- October 2012 – Fire breaks out at Baytown Exxon Refinery.
- January 2013 – Two contractors are injured at Baytown Exxon refinery.
- January 2013 – Flint Hills Corpus Christi refinery is shut down due to pump fire.
- April 2013 – More than 12 workers are injured in ExxonMobil Beaumont refinery explosion.
- October 2013 – Fire erupts at Valero’s Houston refinery.
- July 2014 – El Paso refinery owned by Western Refining catches fire.
- January 2015 – An explosion at the Alon refinery in Big Spring injures at least 4 workers.
- August 2015 – Lightning strikes a transformer at Texas City refinery, causing a fire.
- January 2016 – Three workers are injured in fire at Galveston Bay refinery.
- March 2016 – A generator explosion at Pasadena refinery injures one worker.
- August 2017 – An explosion rocks Marathon Texas City refinery.
- September 2017 – Fire at Port Arthur refinery releases 1+ million pounds of potentially toxic emissions.
- December 2017 – Contract worker loses her life in accident at Beaumont refinery.
- April 2018 – Explosion rocks Valero refinery in Texas City, injuring dozens of workers.
- July 2019 – Explosion at Baytown ExxonMobil refinery injures dozens of workers.
- February 2020 – A contractor is killed in an accident at Baytown ExxonMobil refinery.
- December 2021 – Explosion at ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown injures at least 4 workers.
- January 2023 – At least six workers are injured in a fire at Phillips 66 refinery in Borger, TX.
- February 2023 – A worker is killed while constructing scaffolding at Galveston Bay refinery.
Each of these incidents can be traced to negligence or wrongdoing, whether it was failing to maintain equipment, not training workers properly, failing to inform contractors of certain risks, or allowing lax safety standards. The companies that own and operate these Texas refineries must be held accountable.
