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Renewable fuels at the sight of Chevron and Exxon; no refining upgrades

renewable fuels Exxon Chevron

Renewable fuels production is at the sight of major U.S. refiners ExxonMobil and Chevron; according to a Reuters exclusive, released this Thursday; however, companies are aiming to this production without heavy capital investments, and without any refining upgrades; in a strategy to face the costlier production of these types of fuel.

Firstly, the companies are looking into ways to process bio feedstocks, like vegetable oils and partially processed biofuels with petroleum distillates; to make renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and also, renewable gasoline, without meaningfully increasing capital spending.

Secondly, according to the sources, a task force was created at Exxon’s request within international standards and testing organization ASTM International; to determine the capability of refiners to co-process up to 50% of certain types of bio-feedstocks to produce SAF.

Thirdly, the company will repurpose its existing refinery units; among other strategies, to produce biofuels. In fact, it aims at more than 40,000 barrels per day of low-emission fuels, at a competitive cost by 2025.

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Renewable fuels may receive tax credits

Moreover, an Exxon spokesperson, said. “We see the potential to leverage our existing facility footprint; proprietary catalyst technology and also, decades of experience in processing challenging feed streams to develop attractive low-emission fuels projects with competitive returns.”

On the other hand, Chevron is also looking for ways to run various bio feedstocks through their fluid catalytic crackers (FCC); which are gasoline-producing units that are generally the largest component of refining facilities. “Our goal is to co-process bio feedstocks in the FCC by the end of 2021.” Chevron spokesperson told Reuters; the output would supply renewable fuel products to consumers in Southern California.

Furthermore, Chevron is also partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop a path to produce a fuel that would qualify for emissions credits. If achieved, Chevron would be able to produce and generate credits for renewable gasoline; product not yet available, but that would help reduce GHG emissions by 61% to 83%, depending which feedstock is used, according to the California Energy Commission.

Finally, as we have reported previously, Congress is making progress in a legislation for tax credits that would further spur refiners to process sustainable aviation fuel commercially.

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