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Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) said Wednesday it will shut down crude oil processing at its Rodeo, California, refinery in February as it prepares to start renewable fuel production at the plant by the end of Q1.
The refinery took one crude unit down last month but still processed crude feedstocks in January but will completely stop processing oil in February, the company said on its post-earnings conference call.
After starting up one of the plant’s converted hydrocrackers in March, Phillips 66 (PSX) said it expects to finish work on a pre-treatment unit and a second hydrocracker in April, and start commissioning those units into May; once the PTU is up and running, it plans to start processing lower carbon intensity feedstocks such as fats, greases and tallows late in Q2 and into Q3.
The Rodeo facility will have an initial production capacity of more than 50K bbl/day of renewable diesel, which the company expects to reach by the end of Q2.
Phillips 66 (PSX) closed +1.3% Wednesday after posting better than expected Q4 earnings, helped by strong refining margins.