Vertex Energy plans to operate its newly purchased 90,000 b/d Mobile, Alabama, refinery as a conventional plant while adding in a renewable diesel production capability, a spokesman for the company said May 27.
Oil major Shell said May 27 it reached an agreement to sell its Mobile refinery to Vertex Energy for $75 million.Vertex plans to convert a hydrocracker at the plant to produce renewable diesel, with RD production reaching 10,000 b/d by Q4 2022 and increasing to 14,000 b/d by mid-2023, Vertex spokesman Noel Ryan said.
The hydrocracker will co-process renewables and hydrocarbons, Ryan said, and the conversion is expected to be a nine-month project, which will necessitate the hydrocracker being down for five months in 2022.
"We are not reducing our conventional fuel," Ryan said, adding that the hydrogen produced by the plant is necessary to make the renewable diesel.
Vertex has an offtake agreement in place with Idemitsu for the fuel, and a long-term supply agreement in place for renewable feedstock with Bunker One, a unit of Bunker Holdings, which includes a variety of feedstocks including oil and tallow, Ryan said.
Besides the refinery, the Vertex deal for the Mobile plant includes associated logistical infrastructure, including product racks, an associated dock and the Blakeley Island Terminal. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2021.
Currently, the refinery produces LPG, diesel, jet and gasoline as well as low-sulfur VGO, heavy olefin feed and benzene. It can run as a stand-alone refinery and can produce base oils or chemicals feedstock.
