In the United States, more than half of the existing refineries cannot 

 receive sour crude unless it has been sweetened. Sixty-six percent of 

 United States oil reserves, and 81 percent of world reserves, are 

 estimated to be sour. Therefore, many U.S. sweet crude refineries will 

 probably convert to receive sour crude. The sweetening treatment facility 

 consists of hydro-treating processing units, each with a capacity of 

 12,000 to 24,000 B/D, and sulfur recovery units. The crude may be 

 processed before shipment or after it arrives at the refinery site. A 

 new sour crude treatment facility can be built in two years or less, on 

 100 to 200 acres of land [12], at an entirely new site or next to an 

 existing refinery. 



In the United States, refinery production rates vary from 500 B/D 

 to 400,000 B/D [21]. Capital investment is very high for a new refinery 

 varying between $1,500 and $3,000 for each B/D of capacity. Refineries 

 are built in response to the demand for refined products and the avail- 

 ability of crude. Expansion of existing capacity is often more economical 

 than constructing a new refinery, since most of the required supply and 

 support services are already in place and economies of scale can be 

 realized. 



Refineries may be located anywnere between the source of crude and 

 the intended market area, but are more often built in close proximity to 

 the demand center. Crude oil from U.S. offshore fields is usually piped 

 to the refinery. Foreign crude may be brought directly to the refinery 

 site in large tankers, or piped from a marine terminal to the refinery. 

 Foreign and domestic crude oils are combined at some refineries to make 

 the appropriate mix of crude for their processing units. 



3.7.2 Site Requirements 



Major siting requirements for a new refinery include a large tract of 

 moderately level land, the availability of large amounts of fresh process 

 water, and an abundant supply of electrical power. A refinery is also 

 located so as to take advantage of the existing petroleum transportation 

 system, particularly the distribution system for the market to be served, 

 and the supply system for crude oil. A refinery is usually located between 

 the marine terminal at which crude arrives and the products market to 

 increase efficiency by keeping the oil moving in one general direction. 

 "Back-hauls" are minimized because transporting oil to a distant refinery 

 and then transporting products back to the market region usually causes 

 a significant economic loss. 



The acreage requirements of refineries are difficult to predict 

 because the relationship of refinery size to types of process and to 

 patterns of land use is quite variable. For example, a 250,000 B/D 

 refinery requires roughly 1,000 acres, while a 500,000 B/D unit takes 

 about 1,750 acres [7]. A refinery site plan consists of several major 

 sections including: processing units, service and administration 



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