USA: Neste to produce renewable fuels with Marathon Petroleum
Neste Corporation will set up a 50/50 joint venture with US-based Marathon Petroleum to produce renewable fuels.
The joint venture will produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon's refinery in Martinez, California. The closing of the joint venture is subject to obtaining the necessary permits, which depend upon certification of a final Environmental Impact Report.
Neste’s €0.9 billion (USD 1.0 billion) project is expected to increase the energy company’s renewable products capacity by slightly over 1 million tons (365 million US gallons) per annum. Production of renewable diesel is expected to come online in the second half of 2022. The facility is planned to reach its full annual nameplate capacity of 2.1 million tons (730 million US gallons) by the end of 2023.
“This is a very important step in our renewables growth strategy execution. The location of the facility is in the middle of the growing renewable fuel market in California. The partnership will further strengthen our footprint in the United States, as we will have a broad value chain that covers feedstock sourcing to renewables production and sales in the US,” says Peter Vanacker, Neste’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
“Our ongoing Singapore expansion project and this joint venture will increase our total production capacity of renewable products to 5.5 million tons by the end of 2023 and we will be the only global provider of renewable products with a production footprint in North America, Asia and Europe,” added Vanacker.
Through this joint venture Neste obtains a 50% interest in the Martinez Renewable Fuels project. The production output will be split evenly between the joint venture partners, and each partner will be responsible to market the products under its own brand and responsibility. Both companies will be responsible for feedstock sourcing for the joint venture.
Neste’s renewable waste and residue sourcing platform in the US includes fully owned Mahoney Environmental, a leading collector and recycler of used cooking oil and Agri Trading, one of the largest independent renewable waste and residue fat and oil traders in the US.
