By installing a second hydrotreating unit, which is expected to come online in December, the company says it will improve its solvent neutral 325 and 700 to Group II quality. The plant already produces several lightweight Group IIs. It also produces a Group I bright stock. Vice President of Sales and Marketing William Anderson said it has not been determined whether it will be upgraded to Group II.
Calumet officials said the project is driven more by thedesire to increase production than to improve quality.
The main reason were doing it is to get the better rates, Anderson said Monday. While acknowledging the growing demand for higher quality base oils,he maintained that that trend alone would not have justified the companys investment. The demand is not necessarily there today, he said. It will be in 2005.
The current project comes a year after Indianapolis-based Calumet converted most of Shreveports capacity to paraffinic base oils. After buying the refinery from Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. in 2001, the company initially configured it to produce 4,000 b/d each of paraffinics and naphthenics. Late last year it switched production almost entirely to paraffinics and began producing some Group II. It lost capacity in doing so – down to 6,000 b/d.
Anderson said the latest upgrade will make Shreveports slate compatible with coming upgrades for gasoline and diesel engine oils, as well as automatic transmission fluids.