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Ergon to Spend $78M to Expand Newell Refinery
NEWELL, W.Va. – Ergon Inc. says it plans to invest upwards of $78 million to expand is refinery here. The facility, Ergon-West Virginia, sits on land that borders the Ohio River across from East Liverpool and the Wellsville Intermodal Park on the Ohio side.
The expansion will add capacity in the refinery's processing units and infrastructure so the refinery can handle growing regional crude oil production throughout the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.
Ergon, based in Jackson, Miss., acquired the refinery from Quaker State in 1997.
Built in 1972, the refinery employs high-pressure hydro-treating technology to produce highly refined paraffinic specialty products and fuels from local Appalachian grade crude, according to the company's website.
“This expansion will provide our customers with even greater reliability, higher quality fuels and an improved customer experience,” said Don Davis, president of Ergon - West Virginia, in a prepared statement.
Most of the projects will be completed during the second quarter of 2013, with the balance continuing into 2014, he added.
Ergon – West Virginia has capacity to process over 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil. The refinery processes 100% Appalachian grade paraffinic crude oils gathered from 40,000 facilities throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky and New York, the company says. After the refining process, the ultra-low sulfur fuel products are sold at the refinery rack or by barge within the regional market.
The process and base oils are used in a wide variety of applications, including compounding motor oils, gear oils, greases, pharmaceutical and agricultural spray oils, food grade applications and in high-temperature rubber applications.
Ergon Inc. is a privately held company founded in 1954 by its chairman, Leslie B. Lampton. Today the company employs nearly 3,000 and operates six business segments: refining and marketing, asphalt and emulsions, transportation and terminaling, oil and gas, real estate, and corporate.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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