Total acquires Midcontinent crude oil pipeline

Crude Oil Supply [10000 bytes] Total Petroleum Inc., Denver, has acquired a Midcontinent region crude oil pipeline in a move to gain access to more feedstock for its Denver refinery. The plan aims to replace dwindling supplies from declining wells in eastern Colorado, on which Total had relied for part of the feedstock for the 28,000 b/d plant. Total this summer intends to reverse the flow of the 120 mile pipeline in Northeast Colorado and Southwest Nebraska, acquired in mid-May from Unocal

June 3, 1996

2 min read

Crude Oil Supply [10000 bytes]

Total Petroleum Inc., Denver, has acquired a Midcontinent region crude oil pipeline in a move to gain access to more feedstock for its Denver refinery.

The plan aims to replace dwindling supplies from declining wells in eastern Colorado, on which Total had relied for part of the feedstock for the 28,000 b/d plant.

Total this summer intends to reverse the flow of the 120 mile pipeline in Northeast Colorado and Southwest Nebraska, acquired in mid-May from Unocal Pipeline Co.

Unocal used the line to transport crude from the Adena, Colo., area to Gurley, Neb., where it entered the system of Platte Pipe Line Co., Findlay, Ohio, for delivery to Midcontinent refineries.

Total will adapt the line to ship crude from Northeast Colorado and the Platte system to Adena. From there, oil is to be trucked to the Denver refinery.

The company also has retained a Denver area engineering firm to design a new pipeline to link facilities at Adena to the Denver plant.

Gary Zollinger, Total's vice-president of transportation, said ensuring an adequate supply of crude to the company's Denver refinery is key to supplying gasoline to Rocky Mountain region markets.

Total produces about 15,000 b/d of gasoline and more than 6,500 b/d of diesel fuel at the Denver plant.