BP Whiting Refinery Completes $300M Project
BP Whiting Refinery's Naphtha Hydrotreater (photo courtesy of The Times of Northwest Indiana)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe BP Whiting Refinery has completed work on a $300 million naphtha hydrotreater. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report the project has been in the works for the last few years, and the unit was officially started up on Friday.
The London-based energy company says about 800 construction workers installed the naphtha hydrotreater, which removes sulfur and nitrogen compounds during the oil refining process to make cleaner-burning gasoline.
“BP’s Whiting Refinery reached an important milestone by safely bringing its new naphtha hydrotreater processing unit online,” spokeswoman Sarah Howell told The Times. “BP invested over $300 million over the three-year construction period of the unit. The naphtha hydrotreater removes sulfur from gasoline and improves the facility’s ability to produce cleaner-burning fuels.”
BP says it took hundreds of skilled tradesmen more than 2.5 million hours of work to complete the unit. The naphtha hydrotreater has a capacity of 85,000 barrels per day, according to the publication.
“The naphtha hydrotreater allows the refinery to produce the full slate of U.S. EPA Tier 3 fuels, which require gasoline to have an average sulfur content of no more than 10 parts per million,” stated Howell. “According to the EPA, these cleaner-burning fuels will help lower individual vehicle emissions and make automobile emission control systems more effective.”
The Times reports BP’s existing employees were trained on the unit, and the company did not hire any new employees.