Need Assessment
Why is it necessary to upgrade the refinery?
The addition of new equipment at the Detroit refinery – Michigan's only refinery – is needed to process heavy crude oils, such as those from Canada. Processing a larger supply of Canadian crude oil for the Detroit refinery will help secure Michigan's supply for petroleum products.
Can the expansion be completed on the existing refinery property or will additional land be needed?
Marathon has secured additional property adjacent to the existing refinery footprint enabling the project to move forward with the expansion.
Will this result in lower prices for gasoline and other petroleum products from the refinery?
We cannot predict the price of gasoline or other petroleum products. Gas prices are determined by a variety of market factors. However, this project will help secure the supply of petroleum products for the state of Michigan by offering an alternate supply source (Canada) whose continuity is not impacted by the weather issues that affect the U.S. Gulf Coast. The vast majority of the Detroit refinery production stays in Michigan.
How much Canadian crude oil will Marathon run at its Detroit refinery when the expansion is completed? Will all of this crude oil come from Marathon's partnership in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project?
Once the Detroit Heavy Oil Upgrade Project is completed, the refinery crude capacity will go from the current 102,000 bpd to 115,000 bpd. This project provides the opportunity to increase the amount of heavy crudes currently being run at the refinery. The upgrades will allow the Detroit refinery to process an additional 80,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day. As for what we run at a refinery, we constantly evaluate which crude oils are best for each of our refineries against the other alternatives that we have which include buying and selling these types of feed stocks into the market. We are always weighing those options and they change depending upon market conditions.
Why is the new pipeline necessary?
Our existing 16-inch crude pipeline to the Detroit refinery is not large enough to handle the increased volumes of heavy crude oils. The system will be upgraded to handle the new crude oil by installing approximately 29 miles of new 24-inch diameter line, which will parallel much of the existing pipeline right of way in portions of Monroe and Wayne counties.
What will become of the existing pipeline?
Approximately 29 miles of the existing 16-inch pipeline in Monroe County will be idled once the new line is operational, but it will remain in place and MPL will continue to maintain the pipe and its right of way. Once idled, the 16-inch line will be capped and purged with nitrogen to monitor the pipeline’s integrity.
Why not truck the crude oil to the refinery?
Pipelines are the safest form of petroleum transportation, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation statistics. There are more than 200,000 miles of petroleum pipelines in the U.S.
Pipelines are also the most efficient way to transport crude oil and other liquid petroleum products. Pipelines transport two-thirds of all the crude oil and refined products in the U.S. compared to three percent by tanker trucks. The use of pipelines also helps reduce traffic and pollution. For instance, we currently transport 100,000 barrels of crude per day to the refinery. Transporting the same volume of oil by tanker truck would require between 400 to 500 shipments per day.
In the U.S., the four modes of transporting petroleum include:
