HollyFrontier to reduce oil runs at New Mexico refinery

Nov. 11, 2013
HollyFrontier Corp. will reduce crude throughputs at its 100,000-b/d Navajo refining complex in Artesia, NM, due to refinery waste-water constraints.

HollyFrontier Corp. will reduce crude throughputs at its 100,000-b/d Navajo refining complex in Artesia, NM, due to refinery waste-water constraints.

Based upon the company’s current operational outlook, the revised plan at Navajo will leave HollyFrontier’s overall fourth-quarter crude throughput rate at about 376,000 b/d, the company said.

In its most recent financial report HollyFrontier said company-wide crude charges averaged 417,000 b/d in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

In addition to the Navajo refinery, HollyFrontier, through its subsidiaries, operates a 135,000-b/d refinery in El Dorado, Kan.; a 125,000-b/d refinery in Tulsa; a 52,000-b/d refinery in Cheyenne, Wyo.; and a 31,000-b/d refinery in Woods Cross, Utah.

Earlier in the year, HollyFrontier and Holly Energy Partners LP (HEP) announced plans to build a rail terminal near and increase crude oil pipeline capacity into the Navajo plant by early-2014 to broaden the range of crude oil options available to the refinery (OGJ Online, Apr. 12, 2013; Mar. 8, 2013).

Currently, the Navajo refinery can process both heavy sour and light sweet crudes. While its predominant slate consists of Permian basin crudes gathered in West Texas and southeast New Mexico, the refinery can also access a variety of crudes from Cushing, Okla., including Canadian crude.