From HBJ On the Record: An exclusive conversation with Mark Lashier, CEO of Phillips 66 · · Houston Business Journal
“We've been able to move refined products to the West Coast because the West Coast has been significantly impacted because a lot of the refined products that hit the West Coast come from Asia. Asia can't get their crude out of the straits of Hormuz and so they're cutting back their refinery runs while we still are running at very high rates. I think the first quarter we ran at over 95% utilization.”
On , Mark Lashier, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman at Phillips 69, spoke about refining operations during HBJ On the Record: An exclusive conversation with Mark Lashier, CEO of Phillips 66 on Houston Business Journal.
Mark Lashier, CEO and chairman of Phillips 66, discussed global energy market disruptions and the company's strategic investments in a May 2026 interview with the Houston Business Journal. He stated that activities in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz have "cut off a substantial amount of energy flows," noting that while the price of oil on paper was $110 a barrel, it was "more like $150, $180 a barrel" in the Atlantic basin. Lashier also said the company has been taking Venezuelan crude "when the economics make sense," with 250,000 barrels per day of capacity at its Sweeney and Lake Charles refineries. Lashier described the company's long-term outlook on refining, saying that while some believed refining "was going to go away," Phillips 66 "took the other side of that bet" and is investing in its existing refining base. He expressed concern that prolonged conflict could "tip the world into a recession," adding that the company hopes the situation "gets resolved rationally and quickly."