HOUSTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - BP Plc has finished thecommissioning of all new major units associated with a $4billion upgrade of the company's Indiana refinery to sharplyincrease its ability to process cheap Canadian heavy crude, thecompany said on Wednesday.
The November startup of a new 102,000 barrels-per-day cokingunit at the 405,000 bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana - thelargest in the U.S. Midwest - was the last major step inunlocking the revamped refinery's potential, Iain Conn, chiefexecutive of BP's global refining unit, said in a statement.
This week operators of the refinery were preparing thecoking unit for regular production, sources familiar with theplant's operations told Reuters.
Conn said the refinery is working through post-startuptroubleshooting and expects to be ready to begin ramping upCanadian crude processing from year-end 2013 through the firstquarter of 2014.
The upgrade will increase its Canadian crude processingcapacity to 350,000 bpd from 85,000 bpd, though the plant'soverall capacity will remain the same.
The upgrade also included a new 250,000 bpd crudedistillation unit, a new 105,000 bpd gasoil hydrotreater andother associated units.
Western Canadian Select crude trades at a sharp discount toWest Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude futures benchmark, which in turn is cheaper than London's Brent.