Andeavor to Convert Dickinson Refinery to Renewable Diesel

by Helena Taveres Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In Texas, Andeavor announced a project to convert the Dickinson Refinery to process 12,000 barrels per day of renewable feedstocks, including soybean oil and distillers corn oil, into renewable diesel fuel. The project is expected to be completed in late 2020 and is subject to permitting and regulatory approval. Andeavor continues to execute its strategy of reducing regulatory compliance costs through the implementation of renewable fuels technologies that are compatible with existing vehicles and infrastructure, according to their press release.

This news comes on the heels of their merger agreement with Marathon Petroleum Corp. where MPC will acquire all Andeavor outstanding shares. According to their press release, “this transaction is expected to create a premier U.S. refining, marketing and midstream company, building a platform that is well-positioned for long-term growth and shareholder value creation. The transaction is expected to generate in excess of $1 billion of annual synergies within the first three years.”

The merger is expected to close on October 1, 2018, pending approval from both Andeavor and MPC shareholders. Andeavor has scheduled a meeting of its shareholders for September 24, 2018 to approve the transaction. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biofuels Digest: News arrived this week from Dickinson, North Dakota that Andeavor is proposing to switch its refinery there over from petroleum refining to the production of renewable diesel.The timing will be 2020, the feedstock is waste and crop-based oils, the capacity will be 12,000 barrels a day (183 million gallons per year), and the technology is Haldor Topsoe’s hydrotreating tech which removes the oxygen from organic oils and converts them to hydrocarbons.

The Pope might have declared himself a Buddhist and that would be a smaller event, compared to a refiner of petroleum — a business unit of Marathon — converting an entire refinery over to renewables.

So let me offer this map and place upon it the small town of Dickinson and something you certainly heard of, which is the massive Bakken Shale play, one of the largest oil developments in the United States in decades.

So, that’s where Andeavor is switching over its refinery to renewable fuel. ... Only Nixon could go to China. Only Mandela could make peace in South Africa. Only companies like Andeavor (and its new parent Marathon) can switch petroleum refineries over to renewables. Others can build, but incumbents can switch, and when public companies shift, you know the calculators have been whirring and teams have been burning the midnight renewable oil to ensure that the project pencils out.

U-L-S is A-O-K

It’s the search for ultra-low sulphur diesel, primarily, that’s found at the heart of this. Other issues may be motivating Andeavor — but we know that the world’s marine fleets are switching over to ULS marine diesel in two years, and the world is short on refining capacity.

Meanwhile, renewable diesel is bereft of sulphur and it comes with a low-carbon profile that means it is liquid gold in any market that has a low carbon fuel standard in place. As we highlighted here.

Like, ahem. neighboring Canada is planning to deploy shortly. That Oregon, British Columbia and California already have.

Meanwhile, eastern North Dakota is replete with soybeans and sunflowers. As many know, the world can use just about as much soybean meal as can be produced, primarily for animal feed and especially for China — but there’s never quite enough uses and markets for soybean oil, and this is a primary driver of the biodiesel and renewable diesel industries. READ MORE