Trainer Refinery is an oil refining facility located in
Trainer,
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area.
Del ...
. The facility is about downstream from the
Port of Chester
The Port of Chester is an American port on the west bank of the Delaware River in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Centered around Chester it ranges into Marcus Hook to the south and Eddystone to the north. It is part of the Delaware Valley port ...
and fifteen miles southwest of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
along the
Delaware River.
Stoney Creek is along its northern perimeter. The Trainer Refinery is owned by Monroe Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...
. Monroe Energy acquired the facility in June 2012. Since that time, the company has focused on producing high-quality transportation fuels at the refinery. In addition to jet fuel, the facility also produces gasoline, diesel, and home heating oil.
History
In 1891, the
Union Petroleum Company leased 17
acres in
Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania
Marcus Hook is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,397 at the 2010 census. The current mayor is Gene Taylor. The borough calls itself "The Cornerstone of Pennsylvania". The 2005 film ''One Last Thing''... was set an ...
, from the
Reading Company. The first plant, constructed primarily of wood, burned down in 1912. Union Petroleum Company was bought out by
Sinclair Oil Corporation, which purchased the original lease and an additional 242 acres of land adjacent to
Trainer, Pennsylvania
Trainer is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,828 at the 2010 census, down from 1,901 at the 2000 census. The borough was named after David Trainer, a wealthy textile manufacturer.
History
Trainer is ...
. On March 17, 1925, Sinclair Oil opened its new $7 million state-of-the-art facility with a projected gasoline production of 6,000 gallons per day (approximately 22,712 liters).
In the late 1940s, Sinclair went through a number of expansions, notably the installation of a
fluid catalytic cracking unit. In 1955, the company installed two new crude stills. According to the 1955 Sinclair Oil Annual Report, these expansions gave the plant an estimated crude processing capacity of 120,000
BPD (Barrels per Day).
Atlantic-Richfield Company acquired the company in 1969 and, shortly thereafter, sold the refinery to
BP, which then transferred the formal ownership to
SOHIO.
[Vassiliou, M.S., Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry, Scarecrow Press Inc, 2009]
/ref> These transactions were a part of deals for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, Alaskan Pipeline. The refinery then underwent a modernization expansion at an estimated cost of $200 million. BP took total ownership of the refinery after absorbing SOHIO in 1987.
In 1996, BP sold several refining assets, including the refinery at Marcus Hook, to Tosco Corporation, which shuttered the refinery after negotiations broke down with union employees. In 1997, Tosco reopened the facility as the Trainer Refinery, operating officially as part of Bayway Refining Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tosco. In 2001, the refinery became part of Phillips Petroleum Company
Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...
after its acquisition of Tosco. In 2002, Conoco merged with Phillips to become ConocoPhillips. The plant shut down in late September 2011, due to a low profit margin. In 2012, downstream
Downstream may refer to:
* Downstream (bioprocess)
* Downstream (manufacturing)
* Downstream (networking)
* Downstream (software development)
* Downstream (petroleum industry)
* Upstream and downstream (DNA), determining relative positions on DNA ...
assets of ConocoPhillips were spun off to the newly formed Phillips 66.
In 2012, Phillips 66 sold the refinery to Monroe Energy, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...
. Delta stated that it considered the purchase of the refinery an "innovative approach" towards managing fuel expenses. The 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery restarted production in September 2012. Delta spent around $100 million to transition 40% of production to jet fuel for its commercial fleet. Under the leadership of Delta CEO Richard Anderson, the Trainer Refinery committed to procuring more oil from domestic companies. In July 2014, it announced a five-year deal with Texas logistics firm, Bridger LLC, who would supply 65,000 barrels of domestic crude a day, or about one-third of the crude oil refined at Trainer.
References
External links
Monroe Energy website
{{Delta Air Lines
Oil refineries in the United States
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delta Air Lines
1891 establishments