Suncor Energy completes upgrade to its Commerce City refinery

abarrelfull wrote on 29 Mar 2013 11:13
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June 26, 2006

Suncor Energy (U.S.A) Inc. today announced the successful completion of the company's $445 million upgrade to its Commerce City refinery. The upgrade allows the refinery to produce refined products, which meet newly regulated emission levels for low sulphur diesel fuel.

In addition to the modifications to meet clean fuels regulations, the upgrades also improve the refinery's environmental performance, and enable Suncor to integrate a broader slate of crude oil products, including sour crude oil from the company's Canadian oil sands production. The upgrade also included an increase in the refinery's ability to process bitumen used in asphalt production.

"Suncor is committed to meeting the region's growing energy demands in a responsible manner," says Mike Ashar, executive vice president. "By upgrading the refinery to produce cleaner fuel from regional crude oil supplies, as well as handling additional bitumen products from Canada's oil sands, Suncor is providing more flexible solutions to meeting the region's energy needs."

The 90,000-bpd refinery — which employs about 360 of the more than 500 people employed at Suncor's U.S. businesses — provides a vital link between the company's large scale oil sands resource base and the growing U.S. energy market. It is a major supplier of Colorado's gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as jet fuel to the Denver International Airport. It is also the largest supplier of paving-grade asphalt in Colorado.

"This was Suncor's first major project at the refinery and it was a tremendous success. Most importantly, the job was done in a safe manner," Ashar said.

Over the two years of the Commerce City refinery upgrade (named Project Odyssey), the project employed a peak construction workforce of approximately 1,300. About 75% of the total project budget was spent purchasing goods and services from Colorado-based businesses.

• Suncor Energy completes upgrade to its Commerce City refinery

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