North American Petroleum Refining Industry to See Continual Increase in Projects Involving Hydrotreater Units

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--For the past few years, the North American Petroleum Refining Industry has been stepping up hydrotreater projects to conform to mandates for low-sulfur gasoline and ultra-low-sulfur diesel. Looking ahead, Industrial Info continues to track an increasing number of projects involving hydrotreater units at refineries. There are 59 projects totaling $7.3 billion in which hydrotreaters are involved that are scheduled to kick off in 2008.

Click on the image for a breakdown by market region of projects involving hydrotreater units for 2008.

Western Canada has had the highest total investment value (TIV), and the region is expected to maintain the lead in the next few years. Preliminary estimates for 2008 show that Western Canada has a TIV of more than $2.6 billion scheduled for projects involving hydrotreater units. By the end of 2007, the region's TIV is expected to hit $3.4 billion. The hydrotreater projects include grassroot plants, upgrades and unit additions.

Preliminary data for 2008 show that most of the hydrotreater-related projects involve gas-oil hydrotreaters (19) and naphtha hydrotreaters (12). Other types include diesel (9), distillate (7), jet fuel (2) and cat feed (1), among others.

The Rocky Mountain market region is expected to see an incredible jump in TIV, with about $2.6 billion scheduled for 2008 compared with just $78 million in 2007. The increase comes from Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma's (Phoenix, Arizona) $2.5 billion Yuma grassroot crude oil refinery project scheduled to kick off next year in Arizona.

Many refineries are now evaluating what they're doing and gearing up for the next environmental mandates (2010-12), which will call for removing benzene out of the gasoline pool.

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.