Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. to supply motiva and marathon refineries with hydrogen
New production facility in Louisiana
Air Products and chemicals, Inc. announced that it will construct a facility in Louisiana to supply hydrogen to the Motiva Enterprises LLC and Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (MAP) refineries, and also provide hydrogen to its Mississippi River corridor pipeline system. Producing 110 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day (MMSCFD), the hydrogen facility will be owned and operated by Air Products and is expected to be on-stream in November 2005.
The hydrogen facility, a natural gas-based steam methane reformer, will help both Motiva's Convent 225,000 barrel-per-day refinery and MAP's Garyville 255,000 barrel-per-day refinery to produce cleaner transportation fuels and other petroleum products from heavier, sour crude feedstocks. The Air Products facility will be located at the Motiva refinery and supply hydrogen by pipeline to MAP, as well as other customers along a 90-mile pipeline network from Baton Rouge to Norco, La. Air Products has an additional hydrogen pipeline in Louisiana east of New Orleans, as well as nearly 150 miles of hydrogen pipeline reaching from Texas and the Houston Ship Channel to Lake Charles, La. Combined, Air Products has the most extensive hydrogen supply capabilities in the U.S. Gulf coast.
"We are very pleased to announce this addition to our hydrogen production capability and infrastructure in Louisiana. The increased reliability represented in this new investment is critically important in meeting the needs of Motiva and Marathon Ashland Petroleum, and other refineries and customers in the Mississippi River corridor," said Scott Sherman, Air Products' vice president and general manager for Energy and Process Industries worldwide.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said, "This kind of economic development will make Air Products' presence in Louisiana stronger. The state has supported Air Products in the past to assist their development, and I am excited to see their continued investment in our state."
Air Products has extensive industrial operations in Louisiana that began with its first plant operating in 1965. In May 2004, Air Products' newest investment in Louisiana went commercial as a new 112 MMSCFD hydrogen production facility in Westlake, La. is now providing hydrogen to the pipeline network and Lake Charles area customers.
The intended supply arrangement is one of over 30 that Air Products has undertaken with refiners worldwide, and the Louisiana hydrogen facility is the 24th to be built under the global alliance between Air Products and Technip. This alliance continues to provide the worldwide refining industry with competitive technology, plus world-class safety with "over the fence" hydrogen supply. Technip provides the design and construction expertise for steam reformers while Air Products provides the gas separation technology. Air Products, through its extensive operating network, and Technip, from its large reference base, also bring effective operational and engineering knowledge to "design-in" high reliability and efficiency. The plants are operated and maintained by Air Products under long-term agreements with customers.
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