Capital Spending on Refinery Coker Projects Jumps Nearly Six-Fold in 2007

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Coker project activity has spiked this year. To date, Industrial Info has identified $30 billion worth of coker projects with planned future construction starts in North America. This represents almost a six-fold increase over last year. In 2006, Industrial Info tracked 57 coker projects worth $5.3 billion, but in 2007, the number of projects has jumped to 89.

Click on the image for a breakdown of delayed coker projects by market region.

Industrial Info has reported that the main trend that drives capital spending is the ability to increase or add bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading, which refers to the refining of the heavy residual stream coming from the vacuum units. And the price of crude oil, which exceeded an all-time record high of just more than $94 a barrel as of yesterday, has prompted refineries to look into converting from sweet refining to sour refining as a less expensive alternative. For more details, view related October 4, 2007, article - North American Petroleum Refining Industry Could See Five-Fold Increase in Capital Spending in 2008 Compared to 2006. Sour crude oil is becoming even more vital because it can be discounted up to $24 less per barrel than sweet crude, even though it requires large investments to process. Western Canada is leading the market regions with $19.3 billion of total investment value in coker projects.

Another trend that has attracted capital spending is the goal to improve operator safety, as manual decoking of a coke drum is dangerous. So, adding an automatic deheading system, as well as emergency chutes, could reduce risks.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. For more than 24 years, IIR has provided accurate and timely intelligence through products such as plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.