Marathon Petroleum a year away from finishing improvements to its Galveston Bay refinery

Marathon Petroleum, one of major players in Oklahoma’s STACK and SCOOP play has made considerable progress on its Galveston Bay refinery in Texas.

Fluor Corporation announced it has achieve substantial engineering completion for Marathon’s Tier 3 gasoline sulfur standard reconfiguration project at the refinery.

Fluor and Marathon Petroleum have worked together on this project since the feasibility stage in 2014. Fluor is providing engineering, procurement and construction management services, which will enable the refinery to achieve updated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 gasoline sulfur standards by 2020 and provide cleaner fuel to U.S. markets.

The scope of work includes a new selective hydrogenation unit, a new naphtha desulfurization unit and upgrades to the existing naphtha desulfurization unit and the fluid catalytic cracker. The project also includes the modernization of the utilities and offsites to continue the integration of the former Texas City refinery into the adjacent Galveston Bay refinery.

Construction activity is underway at the project site, with aboveground piping and structural steel currently being installed. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2019.