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BP Files for Stricter Whiting Refinery Air Permit

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 October 2007, 18:00 CDT

WARRENVILLE, Ill., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BP America Inc. today has submitted a permit application to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in which the company is proposing to lower air emissions limits for the company's Whiting Refinery after completion of a $3.8 billion modernization that will equip the refinery to process more Canadian heavy crude oil and increase motor fuel production by about 1.7 million gallons a day.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/NYM120LOGO )

"Canadian heavy oil is critical to America's future energy security and the need for additional motor fuels," said Whiting Refinery Manager Dan Sajkowski. "BP is committed to finding ways to achieve the important objectives of US energy security, increased gasoline supply, economic development and environmental stewardship."

Under the permit application submitted to IDEM, regulated air emissions at the refinery will be held to more stringent limits than the refinery is currently allowed. The application proposes individual limits on almost all air emissions sources including those not currently subject to emission limitations. In addition to the modernization project, the permit application also accounts for all expected changes in emissions at the refinery from ongoing upgrades and maintenance through 2011.

The proposed stricter air permit limits follow a five-year trend of measurable decreases in air emissions from the Whiting Refinery. Criteria pollutants in 2006 were 68 percent lower than those in 2001 and these emissions will decrease an additional seven percent by 2011.

Although emissions of some individual components like sulfur dioxide and particulate matter are expected to increase when the project is completed in 2011, they will remain below currently authorized limits.

More than $1.4 billion of the $3.8 billion refinery modernization program is allocated for environmental improvements. To reduce air emissions, BP is replacing existing equipment with more modern technology and installing emission controls on new and existing units

These controls include technology to produce lower sulfur fuels, specialized burners and controls to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from heaters and boilers, sealing sources of particulate and volatile organic compound emissions and improved automated controls that optimize process units for lower emissions.

To meet the emissions reductions requirements proposed in the permit application, BP will also apply credits earned from pollution-reducing investments made at the refinery during the past few years. For example, reconfiguring oil-burning boilers and heaters to burn lower sulfur fuel gas generated emissions credits that can be applied to the refinery's air permit.

IDEM and US EPA allow the use of credits to encourage ongoing investment in emissions controls at industrial facilities. As a result, the modernization project will achieve net decreases in emissions of major criteria pollutants while producing more motor fuels.

"This air permit application meets or exceeds IDEM and US EPA regulations and results in an overall reduction in air emissions at the same time that we are processing a heavier grade of oil and producing more motor fuel," Sajkowski said. "Our goal is to protect the environment and bring another 620 million gallons of gasoline to the US Midwest every year that's processed from a secure source of North American oil."

The BP air permit application was submitted to IDEM's office in Indianapolis and will undergo a comprehensive technical regulatory review and public comment period. A copy of the air permit application will be filed at the Whiting Public Library. In addition to the regulatory process, BP is continuing communications with various stakeholders to provide information on the refinery modernization project. More information on the air permit application and the Whiting refinery can be found at http://whiting.bp.com/.

Notes to Editors: Whiting Refinery Project -- As BP's second largest refinery, the Whiting facility provides the Midwest and other parts of the US with enough fuel to run 430,000 cars, 22,000 commercial trucks, 2,000 commercial jet liners, 10,000 tractors and fill 350,000 propane tanks. -- The four-year, multi-billion dollar Whiting Refinery project is designed to shift oil inputs at the 405,000 barrel-per-day refinery from 30 percent Canadian heavy crude to 90 percent Canadian heavy crude. Increased efficiency and reliability created by the Whiting modernization has the potential to increase gasoline and diesel output by about 1.7 million gallons a day or 620 million gallons per year. -- BP currently has about 1,700 employees and as many as 1,500 contractors at its Whiting refinery. The Whiting modernization project will add about 2,000 contractor jobs during construction and 80 new permanent jobs. -- There are 174 billion barrels of heavy Canadian crude oil reserves recoverable with current technology - second only to Saudi Arabia's reserves. The production and refining of heavy oil requires more energy than conventional oil and thus increases air emissions.

Whiting Refinery 2006 Air Emissions Compared to Estimated 2011 Air Emissions

-- Overall regulated air emissions are estimated to decrease at the refinery by about seven percent from 8,952 tons of actual regulated emissions in 2006 to 8,332 tons per year when the Canadian heavy oil project is completed in 2011. The data breaks down as follows: -- Carbon monoxide emissions are expected to show a decrease of four percent from 2,211 tons per year in 2006 to 2,127 tons per year in 2011. -- Volatile organic compounds are expected to drop two percent from 1,179 tons per year in 2006 to 1,159 tons per year in 2011. -- Particulate matter (PM10) emissions are calculated to increase by 21 percent from 544 tons per year in 2006 to 658 tons per year in 2011. -- Nitrogen oxides are expected to decrease about 22 percent from 3,922 tons per year in 2006 to 3,072 tons per year in 2011. -- Sulfur dioxide is estimated to show a 20 percent increase from 1,073 tons per year in 2006 to 1,284 in 2011. -- Lead air emissions are calculated to increase 25 percent from 307 pounds per year in 2006 to 384 pounds per year in 2011. -- Mercury air emissions in 2011 are expected to remain the same or slightly less than the 28 pounds per year in 2006. Investments Planned to Minimize Air Emissions and Use of Emission Credits -- Carbon monoxide emissions are being reduced through the investment in new fuel gas-fired heaters using best available control technology and by setting lower emissions limits for the fluid catalytic cracking units. -- Volatile organic compound emissions are being reduced through investment in a vapor control system for the refinery's gasoline loading dock and the institution of enhanced fugitive hydrocarbon leak detection and repair program. -- Sulfur dioxide emissions are being reduced through the installation of new tail gas clean-up facilities at the sulphur recovery complex and additional sulphur removal from refinery fuel gas. -- Particulate emissions will be reduced by investing in high-efficiency cooling tower drift eliminators and enclosing the refinery's coke- handling system. -- Nitrogen oxide emissions will be lowered by investing in new heaters and retrofitting or replacing existing heaters to reduce NOx created during combustion. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) equipment will be installed on the coker and hydrogen unit. -- Mercury emissions are being minimized by permanently shutting down a hazardous waste incinerator at the refinery's water treatment plant and switching to cleaner-burning fuel gas for heating furnaces and boilers. -- In order to meet the requirements for emissions reductions contained in the new permit, BP will apply credits earned from pollution reducing investments made at the refinery during the past few years. EPA and IDEM allow the use of credits to encourage early emissions reductions at plants. -- Use of these past reductions as credits is consistent with the regulatory requirements and avoids creating a disincentive for reducing emissions before such reductions may be required. Other refining projects pending in the US are also making use of emissions credits in their air permit applications.

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BP America Inc.

CONTACT: Scott Dean, Press Office, BP America Inc., Office,+1-630-821-3212, Mobile, +1-630-640-4231, or Valerie Corr, Press Office, BPAmerica Inc., +1-630-821-3206

Web site: http://www.bp.com/http://whiting.bp.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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