Corrects renewable feedstocks details in penultimate paragraph
US independent refiner Phillips 66 plans to stop processing crude next month at its Rodeo, California, refinery and produce over 50,000 b/d of renewable fuels by the end of the second quarter.
Phillips 66's 115,000 b/d Rodeo refinery has been undergoing a multi-year conversion to produce over 50,000 b/d of renewable diesel (RD) with the option to also make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The refinery took one crude unit down in December but still processed crude feedstocks in January and will stop processing oil altogether in February, the company said on an earnings call today.
The plant expects to start up one of its converted hydrocrackers in March and the facility will "quickly ramp up to about 50pc of the stated capacity," senior vice president of refining Rich Harbison said on today's call.
The refiner plans to finish work on a pre-treatment unit (PTU) and a second hydrocracker at the plant in April and start commissioning those units into May.
Once Rodeo's PTU is up and running, the refiner plans to start processing lower carbon intensity (CI) feedstocks such as fats, greases and tallows late in the second quarter and maybe into the third quarter, Harbison said.
Before the startup of the PTU, the plant will process used vegetable oil (UVO) and potentially used cooking oil (UCO) as well as neat vegetable oil.
"We expect to be up to full rates in by the end of the second quarter," Harbison said.
