The Cherry Point Refinery is the largest oil refinery

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

 in Washington. It is located about 7 mi (11.3 km) south of Blaine

Blaine, Washington

Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canadian border. Blaine is the shared home of the Peace Arch international monument...

 and 8 mi (12.9 km) miles northwest of Ferndale

Ferndale, Washington

-Demographics:As of the census of 2009, there were 11,681 people, 3,901 households, and 2,303 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,409.1 people per square mile . There were 3,292 housing units at an average density of 529.7 per square mile...

, a few miles south of the Canadian border

Canada-United States border

The Canada–United States border, officially known as the International Boundary, is the longest border in the world. The terrestrial boundary is 8,891 kilometers long, including 2,475 kilometres shared with Alaska...

, on the Strait of Georgia

Strait of Georgia

The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...

 between Birch Bay

Birch Bay, Washington

-External links:*...

 and Lummi Bay. The Project was overseen by George W. Glade, President of Parsons Constructors, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ralph M. Parsons Company and a leader in his own right in the oil refinery design and innovation. It is the fourth largest refinery on the West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 and 28th largest in the U.S. The plant was constructed in 1971 with an original capacity of about 100000 barrels (15,898.7 m³). It currently processes over 225000 barrels (35,772.1 m³) of petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 (crude oil) per day, with 90% becoming gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

, diesel or jet fuel

Jet fuel

Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...

. The facility is owned by BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

. It covers about 3300 acres (13.4 km²).

Most of Cherry Point's crude oil is from the Alaska North Slope

Alaska North Slope

The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.The region contains the...

. It is brought in by petroleum tankers via the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Strait of Juan de Fuca

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...

 and Rosario Strait

Rosario Strait

Rosario Strait is a strait in northern Washington state, separating Island and San Juan Counties. It extends from the Strait of Juan de Fuca about north to the Strait of Georgia...

 and delivered directly to the refinery via the facility's tanker pier near a minor headland

Headland

A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...

 called Cherry Point, on the Strait of Georgia. The remainder of the crude comes from a pipeline

Pipeline transport

Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....

 connected to reserves in Western Canada

Western Canada

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...

.

The gasoline and diesel are primarily shipped to filling station

Filling station

A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...

s in Washington and Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 via the Olympic Pipeline and over-the-road fuel trucks. Jet fuel from Cherry Point Refinery accounts for 85% of the fuel used by the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

The Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac , is an American airport located in SeaTac, Washington, at the intersections of State Routes 99 and 509 and 518, about west of Interstate 5...

. Significant quantities of calcined

Calcination

Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials...

 coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 are also produced and shipped to the nearby ALCOA

Alcoa

Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

 aluminum smelter.

Originally an Atlantic Richfield

ARCO

Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...

(ARCO) facility when it opened in 1971, the refinery became a BP operation in January 2002. BP acquired ARCO in April 2000. http://www.imakenews.com/dhaugh/e_article000046173.cfm

External links

• Fact Sheet, Cherry Point, BP
• Oil Spot news - Cherry Point to BP