Chevron tells Petrobras to prove Texas refinery operational -sources

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chevron Corp has told Petrobras it wants proof a Pasadena, Texas, refinery will function as promised before it will take possession of the facility, Gulf Coast market sources said.

Chevron announced in January it would buy the 112,229 barrel-per-day (bpd) Pasadena Refining System Inc (PRSI) refinery owned by Petrobras for $350 million (269.6 million pounds).

The transfer of ownership to Chevron was put on hold on April 2, one day after planned overhauls began on the refinery, the sources said.

"We continue to expect the PRSI transaction to close this quarter," said Chevron spokesman Braden Reddall on Monday.

A Petrobras spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment.

PRSI filed a notice on Friday with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that it was restarting the 56,000 bpd gasoline-producing Fluidic Catalytic Cracking Unit.

But over the weekend the catalytic reformer was shut at the refinery, the sources said. The reformer converts refining byproducts into octane-boosting components blended with gasoline.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Tom Brown)