April 15, 2013 [OPIS] - Western Refining, Inc. said late on Thursday that its 128,000-b/d El Paso, Texas, refinery is on track to receive more price-advantage shale crude from West Texas after starting up operations at its Mason Station Crude Oil Terminal in Reeves County, Texas (Mason Station).
The crude oil terminal is the first phase of the company’s Delaware Basin Crude Oil Gathering System (Delaware Basin System). Mason Station is owned and operated by a subsidiary of Western.
Mason Station includes crude oil storage, truck offloading stations, and a pipeline connection to the Kinder Morgan El Paso crude oil pipeline (Kinder Morgan Line).
The second phase of the Delaware Basin System includes approximately 50 miles of crude oil gathering lines in Southern New Mexico and West Texas and is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2013.
When completed, phases one and two of the Delaware Basin System will be capable of delivering up to 100,000 b/d of shale crude oil to the Kinder Morgan Line for delivery to Western’s 128,000-b/d El Paso refinery. The refinery is currently processing approximately 25,000 b/d of the Delaware Basin-sourced crude oil.
Western also announced it is evaluating the feasibility of third and fourth phases for this project. Phase three would connect its Delaware Basin System to its existing 16 inch TexNew Mex pipeline in Chaves County, New Mexico. This connection would provide additional supply flexibility for new shale crude oil to its El Paso, Texas and Gallup, New Mexico refineries.
Phase four includes evaluation of the feasibility of expanding Western’s rail capabilities at its Gallup refinery.
Currently, the 23,000-b/d Gallup refinery has capacity to load six tanker rail cars per day which could be expanded to 20 tanker rail cars per day.
