ECOLEAF: Understanding Petroleum Power Plants

 
 
Ecoleaf Understanding Petroleum Power Plants
There are 108 petroleum power plants in the United States; these plants are capable of producing more than 100 MW of power. The combined plants produce a total of 58,097 MW.  In 2006, however, only 12.6% of that capacity was utilized (which accounted for 63 million MWh). The percentage of power generated by petroleum plants has fallen from 4.2% to just 3% of total power generated in the U.S.; currently, petroleum plants account for 122.5 Million MWh.
The output share of petroleum power plants did, however, increase to 64% during a ten-year period (from 1995 to 2005), but by 2006, that share had plunged to 51%.


Estimates show that oil-powered-plant energy generation will fall from 121.9 million MWh in 2005 (3% of U.S. energy consumption) to 105MWh in 2025 (1.95% of U.S. energy consumption).



US Petroleum Powered Electricity Consumption in 2005: 64 million MWh

US Petroleum Capacity Usage in 2006: 12.6% of 58,097 MW



UNDERSTANDING Oil Usage in Electricity Production

To define and understand the amount of oil used to create electricity, we first need to understand oil’s numbers. The U.S. consumes 23% of the world’s oil. In 2008, 7.14 billion barrels of oil were refined into U.S. petroleum products. Only 34% of the oil the U.S. consumes comes from the U.S. (Alaska provides 14% of the country’s domestic oil). Imported oil accounts for a staggering 66% of the U.S. oil consumption.


Most of U.S. oil is used for transportation: 72% of it goes directly to gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. (Gasoline represents 46% all consumption.) Ninety-five percent of America’s modes of transportation—that would be planes, trains, trucks, boats, barges, and automobiles—run off petroleum products. We often forget that gasoline-powered cars in the U.S. only represent 19% of the carbon emissions problem—at 39.4%, the real culprit is electricity.


Only 1% of petroleum is used to generate electricity. Enough oil to run every petroleum power plant in the country would equate to the amount used in fewer than four days of overall U.S. oil consumption. With its annual production of 250 million barrels, Alaska could provide the 70 million barrels of oil that would be needed for our annual electricity generation.



US OIL REFINERIES

There were 150 U.S. refineries in 2009; nine of them were idled. On its own, the largest refinery in Baytown, Texas (owned by Exxon Mobile Corp.) could easily handle all of the U.S. needs for electricity generation. A mere 33% of the Baytown plant’s daily and annual production would provide sufficient fuel. And that’s only one-third of the production of one plant! (Out of 141+ operational refineries.) To put this into better perspective, any one of the top 85 U.S. refineries could supply the all of the petroleum needed for petroleum-based electricity.












             Top 85 Ranked US Refineries (Barrels Per Day)

1     EXXON MOBIL            Baytown, Texas                      572,500

2     EXXON MOBIL            Baton Rouge, Louisiana         503,000

3     BP PRODUCTS          Texas City, Texas                   455,790

4     CITGO                         Lake Charles, Louisiana         429,500

5     BP                               Whiting, Indiana                       405,000

6     EXXON MOBIL           Beaumont, Texas                    344,500

7     SUNOCO                    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania      335,000

8     CHEVRON                  Pascagoula, Mississippi          330,000

9     DEER PARK               Deer Park, Texas                    329,800


10   WRB                            Wood River, Illinois                 306,000

11   FLINT HILLS                Corpus Christi, Texas        288,468

12   PREMCOR                  Port Arthur, Texas                   287,000

13   MOTIVA                       Port Arthur, Texas                  285,000

14   FLINT HILLS                Saint Paul, Minnesota            280,500

15   CHEVRON                   El Segundo, California        279,000

16   HOUSTON REFINING  Houston, Texas                     270,600

17   BP WEST COAST        Los Angeles, California          265,000

18   MARATHON                 Garyville, Louisiana                256,000

19   CONOCO PHILLIPS     Belle Chasse, Louisiana        247,000


20   CONOCO PHILLIPS     Sweeny, Texas                      247,000

21   CHEVRON USA INC     Richmond, California        245,271

22   CONOCOPHILLIPS      Westlake, Louisiana              239,400

23   EXXON MOBIL             Joliet, Illinois                          238,600

24   CONOCO PHILLIPS     Linden, New Jersey               238,000

25   MOTIVA ENT.               Norco, Louisiana                   236,400

26   MOTIVA ENT.               Convent, Louisiana               235,000

27   TOTAL                          Port Arthur, Texas                 232,000

28   MARATHON                 Catlettburg, Kentucky            226,000

29   BP WEST COAST        Ferndale, Washington           225,000


30   FLINT HILLS                 North Pole, Alaska                210,000

31   MARATHON                 Robinson, Illinois                   204,000

32   VALERO                       Texas City, Texas                 199,500

33   CONOCO PHILLIPS     Ponca City, Oklahoma          198,400

34   CHALMETTE                Chalmette, Louisiana            192,500

35   VALERO                       Norco, Louisiana                   185,003

36   CONOCO PHILLIPS     Trainer, Pennsylvania           185,000

37   PREMCOR                    Delaware City, Delaware      182,200

38   PREMCOR                    Memphis, Tennessee           180,000

39   SUNOCO                      Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania  178,000


40   VALERO ENERGY        Sunray, Texas                      171,000

41   PDV MIDWEST             Lemont, Illinois                     167,000

42   TESORO                       Martinez, California              166,000

43   CITGO                           Corpus Christi, Texas       163,000

44   VALERO                        Paulsboro, New Jersey        160,000

45   SUNOCO                       Toledo, Ohio                        160,000

46   SHELL OIL                     Martinez, California             156,400

47   EXXON MOBIL              Torrance, California             149,500

48   LIMA REFINING             Lima, Ohio                          146,200

49   WRB REFINING             Border, Texas                     146,000

50   SHELL OIL                     Anacortes, Washington       145,000


51   SUNOCO                        Westville, New Jersey          145,000

52   VALERO                         Benicia, California                144,000

53   VALERO                         Corpus Christi, Texas           142,000

54   CONOCO PHILLIPS       Wilmington, California          139,000

55   FRONTIER EL DORADO El Dorado, Kansas              130,000

56   BP-HUSKY                      Toldeo, Ohio                        125,600

57   WESTERN REFINING     El Paso, Texas                    122,000

58   CONOCO PHILLIPS        Rodeo, California                120,200

59   TESORO WEST              Anacortes, Washington       120,000


60   MURPHY OIL                  Meraux, Louisiana               120,000

61   COFFEYVILLE RES.       Coffeyville, Kansas             115,700

62   MARATHON                    Detroit, Michigan                 102,000

63   CONOCOPHILLIPS         Ferndale, Washington         100,000

64   PASADENA REFINING   Pasadena, Texas                100,000

65   TESORO                          Wilmington, California          96,860

66   NAVAJO REFINING        Artesia, New Mexico             95,000

67   TESORO HAWAII            Ewa Beach, Hawaii          93,500

68   VALERO                          Three Rivers, Texas              93,000

69   VALERO                          Ardmore, Oklahoma              87,400


70   SHELL CHEMICAL         Saraland, Alabama               86,000

71   NCRA                              Mcpherson, Kansas              85,500

72   SUNOCO                        Tulsa, Oklahoma                   85,000

73   VALERO                         Houston, Texas                     83,000

74   ULTRAMAR INC             Wilmington, California           80,887

75   ALON REFINING            Krotz Springs, Louisiana       80,000

76   CHEVRON                      Perth Amboy, New Jersey     80,000

77   MARATHON                    Canton, Ohio                         78,000

78   CALCASIEU REFINING  Lake Charles, Louisiana       78,000

79   MARATHON                    Texas City, Texas                 76,000


80   MARATHON                    Saint Paul, Minnesota           74,000

81   SINCLAIR WYOMING     Sinclair, Wyoming                 74,000

82   TESORO                          Kenai, Alaska                       72,000

83   SINCLAIR                        Tulsa, Oklahoma                  70,300

84   LION OIL                          El Dorado, Arkansas            70,000

85   WYNNEWOOD REFINING Wynnewood, Oklahoma    70,000



OIL People

Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil

David O’Reilly, CEO of Chevron

Jim Mulva, CEO of ConocoPhillips

 

UNDERSTANDING PETROLEUM POWER PLANTS

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