HF Sinclair Hopeful on Western Pipeline Project, Forms Branded Marketing JV
HF Sinclair officials on Wednesday said the company is continuing to evaluate a refined product pipeline expansion that will allow it to serve U.S. West Coast markets and announced a fuel-distribution joint venture that would supply fuel from its refineries.
In a call to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter financial results, Executive Vice President of Commercial Steven Ledbetter said the refinery operator is targeting a final investment decision for phase one of the pipeline expansion project by the middle of this year.
“We believe very strongly in this project, and we think that this will be very accretive to the entire value chain under HF Sinclair,” he said.
Ledbetter said the project, which was announced in October aims to address growing supply needs in Nevada and California and would allow the company’s Midcontinent refineries to quickly deliver refined products to markets with the highest demand.
HF Sinclair in October said the first phase of the project–which the company hopes to bring online in 2028–would increase the company’s ability to move fuel from its refineries in the Rocky Mountain region to Nevada by an estimated 35,000 b/d.
The Dallas-based company also said it has formed a 50-50 joint venture called Green Trails Fuels with UPOP Holdings, a fuel and convenience-store operator. HF Sinclair said it would supply fuel from its existing refineries to the retailer, which operates the 30 retail fuel sites in Colorado and New Mexico.
Ledbetter said the JV will accelerate growth of the company’s Sinclair-branded locations through incremental branded retail sites in the Rockies and Southwest regions.
In addition, Ledbetter said the company is progressing with a vacuum furnace project at its El Dorado, Kan., refinery that would increase the plant’s heavy crude processing capability by about 10,000 b/d.
The project also would improve reliability and upgrade yield through gasoil recovery, and Ledbetter said he expects work will be completed during planned fourth-quarter maintenance work.
HF Sinclair completed major turnarounds at its 166,520 b/d Tulsa, Okla., refinery, 92,000 b/d Parco plant in Wyoming and its 149,000 b/d Puget Sound refinery in Washington, he said.
The company earlier on Wednesday said it had elected Chairman Franklin Myers as the company’s chief executive and president on a temporary basis. Myers will replace Tim Go, who is taking a “voluntary leave of absence,” HF Sinclair added.
Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com