11-03-2013

BP-Husky celebrates successful start up of reformer project with ribbon cutting ceremony

BP-Husky Refining LLC today marked the successful commissioning of a state-of-the-art naphtha reformer at the joint venture’s Toledo Refinery with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the 160,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant located in Oregon, Ohio.
 
“The Reformer 3 unit will significantly improve the plant’s efficiency and competitiveness,” said Mark Dangler, President and Refinery Manager of BP-Husky Refining LLC. “The increased energy efficiency of this unit will also reduce refinery air emissions by five percent, building on our track record of driving down criteria air emissions at the plant by 45 percent since 2000.”
 
“The roughly $400 million reformer investment is the result of more than 1500 skilled trades people working over the last two years to ensure a successful and safe completion of this significant new process unit,” Dangler added “Our workforce and business partners did an outstanding job delivering this project.”   
  
The project involved replacing two older catalytic reformers and a hydrogen plant with a single 42,000 bpd reformer. Catalytic reforming is an essential part of the oil refining process. Reformers use special reactors and catalyst to transform naphtha into high octane gasoline blend stocks. The latest technology for both reforming and catalyst regeneration was used for the project.
 
“BP is committed to safe and reliable operations and this project is a prime example of that commitment,” said Doug Sparkman, BP’s East of Rockies Fuels Value Chain President. “Not only was the project delivered on-time, and on-budget, it was also completed safely, achieving a new safety milestone at the refinery. Meeting our commitments to safety, quality and performance positions the Toledo Refinery for future investments.”
 
Planning for the catalytic reformer project began prior to the formation of the BP-Husky joint venture in 2007 and is a separate project from the Canadian Crude upgrade announced with the joint venture.