Capacity at Chevrons Richmond, Calif., base oil plant has been recalculated to a nominal 20,000 barrels per day, according to a report released by the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association last week. Including that change, base oil capacity in the United States stood at 221,900 b/d as of Jan. 1, up nearly 10 percent from 202,200 b/d at the beginning of 2006, according to the 2007 Lubricating Oil and Wax Capacities Report.
A Chevron official confirmed that the API Group II/Group III plant, through a combination of actual hardware changes and catalyst improvements, has boosted its capacity to 20,000 b/d, an increase of more than 33 percent. However, that gain reflects the accumulated efforts of several years, he stressed.
Brent Lok, base oil marketing and business development manager for Chevron, explained on Monday that NPRA asks companies to report only their nameplate capacity. And Chevrons Richmond base oil plant indeed had a 15,000 b/d nameplate capacity a number of years back, he said. The company has performed various debottleneckings on the plant, Lok said, and the capacity has crept up over time.
We didnt report any change to NPRA though, because our actual production was about 15,000 b/d, so we didnt see the need to change what we reported, Lok clarified. Also, the gains we gradually made towards climbing over 15,000 b/d were absorbed by our making more Group II-plus and Group III oils. He declined to reveal the percentage split in Chevrons slate between Group II, II-plus and Group III at the Richmond plant.
After our recent shutdown, however, we added up all the tie-ins and debottleneckings, and decided to go to our real nameplate capacity for this years report, Lok said. This last tie-in delivered gains that are measurable in thousands of barrels, and as a result of the additional capacities weve achieved, were able to target Europe and Asia-Pacific with our Group II barrels.
The largest increase shown in the 2007 NPRA report is the well-known expansion of Motivas Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, which streamed some 17,000 b/d of new Group II capacity in March 2006. Motiva told NPRA its base oil capacity is now 39,000 b/d, although LubesnGreases magazine has put the figure at 40,300 b/d. (A Motiva official was unable to verify the precise number before this issue of Lube Report goes to readers.)
The document also shows smaller increases at ExxonMobils plant in Baton Rouge, La.; at Marathon in Catlettsburg, Ky.; San Joaquin Refining in Bakersfield, Calif.; and Valeros Three Rivers, Texas, facility. Together, these added 1,700 b/d to the nations total.
In Canada, NPRAs data shows a gain of nearly 13 percent since January 2006, thanks to Petro-Canadas addition of 3,100 b/d at Mississauga, Ontario.
Looking at upcoming changes, Calumet Lubricants indicated it will expand Group I capacity this year to 4,800 b/d at its Shreveport, La. plant,and Group II capacity there will reach 7,000 b/d.Jennifer Straumins, vice president of investor relations for Calumet Specialty Products Partners,told Lube Report the expansions are scheduled for completion in the third quarter this year, with production ramping up during the fourth quarter.
Evergreen Oil, which produces rerefined base oils, anticipates expanding to 1,500 b/d its Newark, Calif., severe hydrotreating and Group II capacity; it stands at 800 b/d now.
The 8-page 2007 Lubricating Oil and Wax Capacities Report is free to NPRA member companies, and costs $25 for nonmembers. For ordering information, go to www.npra.org/publications/statistics