Alaska Refinery to Make Jet Fuel for Export to Asia

A refinery at the terminus of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline will make high quality jet and diesel fuel for export to Asian countries, officials from the new company, which is based in Santa Barbara, and the state of Alaska announced.

They said that the federal law prohibiting export of North Slope Alaskan crude oil does not prohibit the export of refined petroleum products, and company officials have targeted Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand as the markets.

“Export of refined Alaska petroleum products can contribute to the improvement in the nation’s trade imbalance,” Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield said at a news conference Monday to announce plans for the 100,000 barrel-a-day refinery.

Sheffield and others have been seeking federal permission to export Alaska’s North Slope crude to the Orient, and Japan has expressed interest in buying it, but the mood in Congress has been against changing the law and allowing Alaska oil to flow to Asia.

Plans by Alaska Pacific Refinery Inc. call for shipping the highly refined oil products to Pacific Rim markets when the refinery is completed between October, 1988, and January, 1989.

J. Timothy Campbell, president of the company, said the refinery will be built with $750 million in private investments during the next 30 months.

Before construction can begin, the Alaska Department of Conservation must approve the firm’s air quality permit, spokesman Joe Ferguson said.

Campbell said construction will start next spring, employing 1,100 workers at its peak. The permanent work force will be 250.

Campbell said in an interview that the state-of-the-art refinery will become the second of its kind in the world. The only other such refinery is in Saudi Arabia, he said, noting that the refinery will be distinguished by its high quality jet and diesel fuel, high octane gasoline, and high per barrel product yield.

Alaska Pacific Refinery plans to build on a 1,425-acre site 5 miles from downtown Valdez, a city of 3,700 people.