GS Caltex to invest US$2.82 billion in facility

GS Caltex, a joint venture between GS Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp., has downgraded its planned investment for an upgrading unit in South Korea due to come on stream in 2010. GS Holdings said in a filing with the Korea Exchange that GS Caltex plans to invest 2.94 trillion won (US$2.83 billion) for the refiner’s hydrocracker, which refines heavy fuel oil into more expensive lighter products. GS Caltex will invest the planned amount from 2008 to 2010, the filing added. It had initially said it would invest up to US$3.19 billion in the upgrade unit to be built by 2010. Industry sources said the new unit will have a capacity of around 70,000 to 75,000 barrels per day (bpd), but a company spokesman declined to comment. GS Caltex currently operates a 90,000 bpd residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) and 55,000 bpd hydrocracker at its Yeosu plant, south of Seoul, which has the capacity to refine 680,000 bpd of crude. (May 16, 2008)