One in Tyler with a capacity of 52,000 barrels per day, and one in Pasadena, just outside Houston, that can process 100,000 barrels per day. The Tyler operation is considered minuscule compared to other facilities. The Pasadena refinery is in the middle of a hotbed of competition. Neither Crown facility is capable of refining heavy, 'sour' crude oil, which generally comes from Mexico or Venezuela. Heavy crude is relatively cheap, but the finished gasoline product sells for the same price as gasoline from more expensive, lighter 'sweet' crude.
Crown is able to process only sweet crude.
He said Crown probably couldn't afford to simply close either of its refineries because the cost of environmental cleanup would be prohibitive. I think the company suffers from benign neglect. Geoff Rosenberger, a fund manager at Clover Capital Management, said he dumped the firm's 200,000 shares in Crown years ago. He said that the family's huge stake in the company has affected performance and made its leaders complacent. If they didn't have a viable business plan, then they should have sold the assets to somebody who had economies of scale.