By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 12 -- Marathon Oil Corp. plans to delay for 18 months completion of a $2 billion expansion of its 100,000 b/d refinery in southwest Detroit—Michigan's sole refinery.

The company originally intended to finish the expansion in fourth-quarter 2010, but a slowdown in gasoline demand and a delay in the company's Canadian crude production pushed the completion date to mid-2012.

Construction, which began in June 2008, will not stop but will continue at a slower pace, a company representative said.

Due to the delay and other factors, Marathon raised its cost estimate for the project to $2.2 billion, up 15% from the original estimate of $1.9 billion.