Valero Wilmington Refinery — United States

Valero Wilmington Refinery is a refinery in United States. Its listed capacity is 85,000 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Valero Energy Corp. By capacity it ranks #65 among 119 oil refineries in United States. It emits about 1,111,802 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 0.20% of the CO₂e from the 1,910 facilities in United States that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 52% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1753334.

In context: how this facility compares

At 85,000 BBL per day, Valero Wilmington Refinery is around the median refinery in United States (89,200 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 1,111,802 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in United States

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Valero Energy Corp. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Valero Wilmington Refinery sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate zone (Köppen BSk), at 33.8°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1321 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.02× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #65 largest of 119 oil refineries in United States by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• AIR PRODUCTS WILMINGTON HYDROGEN PLANT · Chemical Plant · 688,237 t CO₂
• Gold Bond - LGB Plant · Metals Plant · 37,117 t CO₂
• Juanita'S Foods · Food & Beverage
• Lineage Logistics Pfs, Llc · Food & Beverage
• Valero Wilmington Asphalt Plant Refinery · Refinery · 43,705 t CO₂
• Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery - Carson Plant · Chemical Plant · 290,529 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 33.77905, -118.23366. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions