CHS Inc. said it has completed a $400 million upgrade to an oil refinery near Billings, Mont., which could give the company the ability to increase fuel production at that location by more than 20%.
The company marked the completion of the two-year project at an event held at the refinery on Wednesday. A diversified energy, grains and foods company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers, cooperatives and other stockholders nationwide.
The "Bottoms Upgrade Project" at the Montana refinery included a 15,000-barrel-per-day coker, a sulfur recovery unit and upgrades to process units throughout the refinery to incorporate the new production units into the existing refinery. The refinery’s overall through-put remains rated at 60,000 barrels-per-day, but the addition of the coker will increase, by more than 400,000 gallons per day, the volume of gas and diesel it produces.
"At this time of concern over energy supply, we are proud of this investment – the biggest in CHS history – which means more gasoline and diesel fuel to the agricultural producers and consumers who count on us," said Leon Westbrock, CHS executive vice president and chief operating officer. "As a result, we’ll continue to be a reliable supplier of quality fuel products, as we have been for more than seven decades."
CHS recently acquired 33 Zip Trip convenience stores in the Pacific Northwest, and has already begun converting the stores from their old 76 brand to CHS’ Cenex brand.
The company supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain, livestock feed, food and food ingredients, as well as various business solutions. It operates petroleum refineries and pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex brand fuels, lubricants and other products.