Early November: Downstream US update

New Mexico

Western Refining Inc. is considering expanding production capacity at its Gallup refinery, New Mexico. The company are interested in increasing capacity of the facility’s crude distillation and fluid catalytic cracking units by 10%. The facility currently has a processing capacity of 23 000 bpd. The company are planning on expanding to take advantage of the crude prices currently being experienced in the midcontinent area of the US.

North Dakota

The Three Affiliated Tribes have asked for the permit granting permission for the construction of the Bakken refinery to be reviewed. The refinery has construction permission for the Fort Berthold Reservation in the northwest of the state. The review is being asked for based on whether the EPA should have carried out additional environmental impact statements when feedstock for the facility was changed from Bakken crude to Canadian.

Texas

ExxonMobil Corp. reported a trip in the coker unit at its Beaumont refinery yesterday. The facility was quick to begin restarting the unit with the wet gas compressor being restarted first. The incident was reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and is not anticipated to have a major effect on production at the 345 000 bpd facility. 

Texas based CVR Energy have said that they are in fact not interested in expanding their refinery operations after a report was released expressing their interest in purchasing another refinery. The refinery in question was the Wynnewood, Oklahoma facility owned by Gary Williams Energy Corp.

BP has agreed to pay the state of Texas US$ 50 million for pollution violations. A settlement was reached over an explosion at BP’s Gulf Coast refinery which killed 15 people in 2005. The agreement covers the 72 emissions violations that have occurred at the site since the explosion 6 years ago.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/04112011/early_november_downstream_us_update/