By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 27 -- Marathon Oil Corp. plans to expand the capacity of its Garyville, La., refinery to 425,000 b/d from 245,000 b/d at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.
It plans to add a crude distillation unit, hydrocracker, reformer, kerosene hydrotreater, delayed coker, additional sulfur recovery capacity, and other infrastructure.
Upgrading capacities now in place at the refinery include 32,800 b/cd of delayed coking, 115,000 b/cd of fluid catalytic cracking, and 46,600 b/d of catalytic reforming, according to Oil & Gas Journal's Worldwide Refining Survey (OGJ, Dec. 20, 2004, p. 46).
"Marathon will essentially build an entirely new refinery at this site and leverage off the infrastructure already in place at Garyville," said Gary R. Heminger, executive vice-president of Marathon and president of the company's refining, marketing, and transportation operations.
Construction could begin as soon as 2007 and be complete by the fourth quarter of 2009. A final investment decision depends on completion of front-end engineering and design and acquisition of permits.
The expansion will enhance the refinery's feedstock flexibility and raise its yield of light products by nearly 6 million gal/day.
The Garyville refinery, built in 1976, represents the most recent grassroots refinery construction in the US.