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Philadelphia Refinery Delays Firing 1,020 Workers Another 6 Weeks

In late June, MDN brought you the sad news that Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which operates the East Coast’s largest refinery on the banks of the Delaware River, has decided to close, throwing 1,020 people out of work following a recent fire (see Philly Refinery to Close Following Massive Fire – 1,020 Jobs Lost). Later this week, July 12, was to be the last day for those employees. However PES recently announced they are extending the “last day” date, from July 12 to August 25, an extra six weeks. Why?
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Massive Explosion, Fire at Philadelphia Refinery

PES fire

Last Friday around 4 am there was a series of three explosions and a massive fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refining Complex, the East Coast’s oldest and largest oil refinery. It took fire fighters until Saturday afternoon to extinguish the blaze. The main concern was that if the fire reached a tank of hydrofluoric acid used in the refining process it would be released as hydrogen fluoride (a poison), affecting nearby residents. Fortunately that didn’t happen. The thing about the story that caught our attention is that propane and butane (potentially sourced from the Marcellus) are what fed the fire.
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Philadelphia Refinery Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which operates the East Coast’s largest refinery on the banks of the Delaware River, has sadly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. PES had been on a mission to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports. However, in November 2016, PA Gov. Wolf killed that plan when he decided to give a sweetheart deal to another company to develop a parking lot on the site, to park incoming cars arriving by container ships from Japan (see PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia). PES’ stated reason for bankruptcy is due to an onerous EPA requirement that refiners must blend in biofuel with gasoline and diesel, or purchase very expensive credits. PES can’t blend, so they must buy the credits, and it’s put them under water financially. Sadly, the Trump administration caved to the Midwest corn growers lobby and decided to uphold the Obama EPA’s onerous requirement…
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Philly Refinery “Mired in Debt” – Fights for Survival

In 2012, Sunoco inked a deal with The Carlyle Group to form a joint venture to keep Philadelphia’s historic refinery operating (see Sunoco & Carlyle Group Ink Joint Venture for Philly Refinery). The jv was called Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), and its CEO was the charismatic Philip L. Rinaldi, who was called “fossil Phil.” The refinery flourished–and saved 850 jobs. But PES hasn’t been without its challenges. They tried to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports. But in the end, Gov. Wolf (a dunce) decided the land next to the refinery would be better used as a parking lot for imported cars coming from Japan (see PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia). Late last year fossil Phil decided to hang it up and retire (see PES’ Phil Rinaldi Stepping Down; Will Philly Energy Hub Die?). Can’t blame him. PES is now, according to Bloomberg, in a fight for its survival. The culprit is the exorbitant (we’d call it extortionist) fees PES must pay the federal government for something called Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs. What are they? And will they spell the end of PES?…
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Gov. Wolf’s $300 Million Philadelphia Boondoggle Begins

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is stealing $300 million from PA taxpayers and giving it to union bosses in Philadelphia–and everyone is celebrating like it’s some great thing. As we previously reported, over the past two years Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) has been on a mission to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). PES was willing to invest its own money in the project. But last month Gov. Tom Wolf canceled PES’ plans by giving a $300 million bribe, er a, “investment” of taxpayer’s money to turn that 200 acres into a big parking lot to park incoming cars arriving by container ships from Japan (see PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia). A bunch of (sleazy) politicians and union officials had a big Christmas party on Wednesday to celebrate the theft of taxpayer money for the project, and to pay Wolf on the back for being the thief…
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PES’ Phil Rinaldi Stepping Down; Will Philly Energy Hub Die?

Phil Rinaldi

“Fossil Phil,” Philip L. Rinaldi, is stepping down as CEO of Philadelphia Energy Solutions. In 2012 Sunoco and the Carlyle Group formed a joint venture to operate the troubled Sunoco refinery in South Philadelphia (see Sunoco & Carlyle Group Ink Joint Venture for Philly Refinery). They put Phil Rinaldi in charge. The deal saved 850 jobs from disappearing and led to adding even more jobs as the refinery, under the leadership of Rinaldi, began processing shale oil. Since then the price of oil has dropped, a lot. But the facility still chugs along. Phil is turning 71 and didn’t offer a reason for why he’s leaving the post (although retirement is the apparent reason). Phil does intend to continue on as Chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Action Team–a group dedicated to turning Philadelphia into an “energy hub” by building more pipelines to the city from the Marcellus. Some antis have intimated that Phil leaving his post spells the end of the dream to turn Philly into an energy hub, which is, of course, nonsense…
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PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia

canceledPhiladelphia Energy Solutions (PES) has been on a mission to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports. Believe it or not, a plan to lease the extra space has been going on for more than two years (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). That’s how long it takes to grease all of the corrupt Democrat hands in Philly to get anything done. Those corrupt hands have now been greased–by none other than Gov. Tom Wolf–and PES is now out in the cold, with their plan canceled by a $300 million bribe, er a, “investment” by Gov. Wolf and the good citizens of PA. Wolf’s plan is to turn that 200 acres into a big parking lot to park incoming cars arriving by container ships from Japan. Uh, Mr. Wolf, what happens when those cars start to be manufactured right here at home under President Trump? Oops, nobody thought to ask that question…
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Paid Protesters Turn up in Philly (Again) to Slam Oil Terminal Plan

philly-regional-port-authority
Philly Regional Port Auhtority – Click for larger version

Less than two dozen PAID global warming protesters from the odious Food & Water Watch and Philly Thrive groups convened yesterday in Philadelphia to (once again) rail against a plan by Philadelphia Energy Solutions to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres. Believe it or not, a plan to lease the extra space has been going on for more than two years (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). That’s how long it takes to grease all of the corrupt Democrat hands in Philly to get anything done. As things have gotten closer to a signed lease, paid law-breaking protesters have shown up at the facility, periodically, as they did in July (see Group of Protesting/Ignorant Kids Briefly Block Philly Refinery). A teeny tiny group of paid protesters showed up again yesterday and the propagandists at StateImpact Pennsylvania (paid to trash oil and gas) were there to slavishly regurgitate the wackos’ rantings against fossil fuels…
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Group of Protesting/Ignorant Kids Briefly Block Philly Refinery

Barter_Children_ppc_08.inddA small group of ignorant children (look the photo) preened and pretended to actually know something when they marched outside of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in South Philly where PES would like to expand by leasing an extra 200 acres at the Southport facility. The children blocked traffic causing a backup, making drivers unhappy. The kids also prevented trucks from entering and exiting the facility–for about 10 minutes. Philly police watched and did nothing. Sycophantic media (StateImpact) claimed there were “around 100” but a picture of the event shows nine (that we can see), none of whom appear to be old enough to drink beer. PES is pushing the concept of making Philadelphia an “energy hub” and they (PES) want to ship Marcellus Shale gas from the Southport facility location after piping it there from other parts of PA. A number of people are bidding on the property and it’s not at all a foregone conclusion that PES will get it (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). Apparently the subtleties of who may one day lease and operate the site were completely lost on the ignorant kids running around behaving badly…
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Shale Insight 2015: Opening Panel on Philadelphia as Energy Hub

Shale Insight 2015At last week’s Shale Insight conference, MDN editor Jim Willis sat in on a few of the main sessions. One of those sessions was the opener on Wednesday–a panel discussion moderated by the inimitable and always interesting Michael Krancer, a partner at the Philadelphia-based Blank Rome law firm and formerly the Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection during Tom Cobett’s administration. The panel discussion was titled “Philadelphia – The New Northeast Energy Hub” and featured an all-star lineup: Joe Colella, senior VP at Sunoco Logistics; Phil Rinaldi, Chairman and CEO at Philadelphia Energy Solutions; and John Walsh, President and CEO of UGI Corporation. Mike Krancer kicked off the session with a bold statement: He believes Philly will rival and soon pass Houston, Texas as the dominant energy hub in the United States…
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Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy

Hatfields & McCoysOnce again the Marcellus is in the middle of what appears to be a Democrat vs. Republican fight–this time over who will control prime riverfront port facility property in the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Here is our understanding of the situation: the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) is in talks to lease 200 acres at the Southport facility to Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES)–operator of the former Sunoco Inc. refinery in South Philadelphia–who would then turn around and find an operator for the terminal itself. PES wants to ship Marcellus Shale gas from the port facility location after piping it there from other parts of PA. But a bigtime Philly Democrat, John Brown Jr., president of Penn Warehousing and Distribution Inc. (a paper-import company) wants to lease the port facility for himself and the operations of his company. So Brown hired former State Senator Vincent J. Fumo (Democrat with a lot of influence) to pull strings and hose the deal developing between PRPA and PES…
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Owner of Former Sunoco Refinery Speaks on Marcellus, Future

The new owner of the former Sunoco refinery in South Philadelphia says purchasing the refinery did not start out as a rescue operation (saving 850 jobs), but it did end up being one. Philip Rinaldi, CEO of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, was the guest of honor at a United Steelworkers Local 10-1 banquet last Saturday. His comments reveal him to be plain spoken and not without a surprise or two. Rinaldi fancies himself an old-style industrialist–he likes businesses that make things, saying you can’t have a society that only flips hamburgers.

Rinaldi also said the Marcellus will play a key part in his future plans. Here’s the interesting Q&A with Philip Rinaldi, his comments about why he chose the Philly refinery and about what the future may hold:
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Philly Refinery Processes 190K Barrels/Day of Shale Oil

My how times change. A year ago the then-Sunoco Philadelphia refinery was set to close its doors with a loss of 850 jobs. But something happened on the way to closing down: shale. Shale oil, in particular. Today, the refinery is called Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), a joint venture between the  Carlyle Group and Sunoco (Sunoco merged with and is now known as Energy Transfer Partners). As MDN chronicled in July 2012, three shale plays will ultimately play an important role for the refinery–the Bakken, the Marcellus and the Utica (see Sunoco & Carlyle Group Ink Joint Venture for Philly Refinery). However, PES is also eyeing other shale plays, like oil from the Permian Basin (in Texas). That would be a hoot–Pennsylvania refining Texas oil!

More than half of the refinery’s 350,000 barrel per day capacity now comes from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. How? Mostly by railroad, with the rest by barge. According to PA Gov. Tom Corbett, on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the refinery earlier this week, the Marcellus and Utica will soon play a role at the refinery too: “There’s a pipeline coming over here soon that’s going to be bringing natural gas over. You’re using natural gas now to fuel some of your efforts here but also to create a propane and ethane facility here”…
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A Novel Approach to Deliver Cheap Marcellus Shale Gas to Philly

novel approachProblem: How can Philadelphia benefit from cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale natural gas being produced in such large quantities in Pennsylvania that the state can’t use it all and is now a net exporter? Yes, as Drexel president John Fry said at Shale Insight last week, Philly can provide education and research to assist the shale revolution (see Shale Insight 2013: Final Wrap-Up, The Big Surprise). But aside from education and research, how can Philly realize the tangible benefits of low-cost shale gas? Answer: Install a big, fat pipeline into Philly to deliver cheap Marcellus Shale gas to residents and businesses that can use it.

New Problem: Where do you run a new pipeline in a densely populated city like Philly? New Answer: Under the Delaware River (?!?!)…
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