Good afternoon everyone,
PBF’s Delaware City Refining Co. operation is often portrayed by a member of the legacy media as a lawless polluter.
PBF, like any refiner, has its share of scrapes with critics and the natural resources department After all, refining oil is a tough business. Far too few of us in the media or elsewhere have any understanding of what it takes to make the things we take for granted in daily life.
A different picture of the refinery emerged in a story over the weekend from the Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Delaware City is leading the charge for clean fuels that will cut pollution. Despite skepticism from the current administration, clean fuels are slated to be used on ships that now account a significant amount of emissions.
The centerpiece project of the clean fuels project is a $100 million hydrogen plant to be operated by Europe-based Linde.
It follows PBF opting against a more expensive fuels project as it coped with the ups and downs of the refining business. Instead, it spent $100 million or so on a rail terminal for crude oil from North Dakota and Canada.
Fast-track construction of the hydrogen plant is providing a boost to the Delaware economy and adds further assurances that the refinery will stick around after being on the verge of demolition a decade ago.
To its credit, the Delaware City refinery continues to make progress in reducing emissions, despite the claims of critics
None of this will satisfy the eco-fringe that does not have a problem with the loss of hundreds of higher-paying blue collar jobs. Add in construction projections that are continuous in the refining business and the number is upwards of 1,000.
The shift to an economy that relies less on diesel fuel and gasoline is underway. But it won’t happen tomorrow and the transition will require cleaner fuels.
The investments in the Delaware City means the First State will be part of the future, rather than the past, which would have led to an encounter with the wrecking ball.
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