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Tesoro Alaska throughput up for 2011
Tesoro Corp. increased throughput in Alaska last year, according to financial filings.
The refiner handled 55,000 barrels per day from its Alaska operations in 2011, up slightly from 54,000 bpd in 2010 and 51,000 bpd in 2009. The company has the capacity to handle 72,000 bpd of crude oil at its refinery in Kenai, but noted that throughput can exceed capacity because some operations handle other feedstocks in addition to crude oil.
The increased throughput for 2011, though, makes Alaska tied for the smaller operation in the Tesoro portfolio alongside the 55,000 bpd moved through its Utah refinery.
Alaska accounted for less than 10 percent of the 579,000 bpd Tesoro moved in 2011.
Tesoro’s Pacific Northwest unit, which combines financial information from its Alaska and Washington operations, moved 153,000 bpd in 2010, up from 93,000 in 2010.
Refining margins up That unit reported a gross refining margin of $693 million ($12.40 per barrel) in 2011, up considerably from $397 million ($10.84 per barrel) in 2010, largely because of a temporary shutdown at its Washington refinery between April and November 2010.
The work makes it difficult to gauge Alaska’s total impact in the unit. Manufacturing costs fell to $3.64 per barrel in 2011 from $5.88 per barrel in 2010, but Tesoro spent $59 million in capital expenditures in the unit in 2011, down from $81 million in 2010.
As part of a $300 million budget for turnarounds and catalysts this year, Tesoro is planning a turnaround at its Alaska refinery, as well as its refineries in California and Hawaii. The company spent $54 million last year and plans to spend $12 million this year at its Alaska, Hawaii and Utah refineries to reduce the benzene content of its gasoline in order to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards set in February 2007.
In addition to refining oil in Alaska, Tesoro uses Alaska North Slope crude oil at its refineries in Martinez, Calif., and Anacortes, Wash. Tesoro also operates 29 fueling stations in Alaska and sells gasoline to 47 third-party fueling stations across the state.
—Eric Lidji
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