By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 20 -- BP-Husky Refining LLC will undertake a $400 million equipment upgrade at its 155,000 b/d Oregon, Ohio, refinery outside Toledo.
Owned in equal parts by BP PLC and Husky Energy Inc., Calgary, the company plans to start work later this year and complete it in 2012, according to a company statement. BP operates the refinery.
The project targets improved efficiency and competitiveness by reducing energy consumption and lowering operating costs. The company said recession-driven low demand for gasoline and other fuels has squeezed profit margins. The upgrade also targets cutting operating costs.
Work will replace two older catalytic reformers and a hydrogen plant with a singl reformer. The new unit will increase gasoline production, upgrade existing infrastructure, and improve overall plant reliability.
The new 42,000 b/d reformer will require less energy than both the ones it replaces and achieve higher production of gasoline and hydrogen per increment of feedstock by operating at lower pressures resulting in. By utilizing the higher-efficiency reforming technology, said BP-Husky, it expects to reduce overall regulated air emissions by more than 5%.
The gasoline product, with a lower vapor pressure, will help the refinery meet future gasoline environmental regulations.
Photo from Petróleo Brasileiro SA.
Photo from ExxonMobil Corp.
