Site

The Lake Charles Refinery is the seventh-largest refining facility in the United States and has gained a reputation as one of the safest facilities in the industry.

As the largest of the three CITGO refineries, the Lake Charles Refinery consists of a modern, deep-conversion facility with a crude oil refining capacity of 463,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The refinery was established during World War II as a major facility for producing high-octane aviation gasoline. The plant, built at Rose Bluff just outside Lake Charles, was designed by Cities Service and the Kellogg Co. and was completed in record time, becoming operational in 1944.

After decades of operation and expansion, Cities Service faced significant corporate upheaval in the early 1980s. In 1982, the company was acquired by Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). The following year, Occidental sold the company’s only refinery (the Lake Charles facility) and its retail gas stations to Southland Corporation. At this point, the Cities Service brand was phased out, and the refinery began operating under the CITGO name.