Ergon to expand Mississippi base oil refinery

Ergon Refining is planning for a $150 million expansion at its specialty naphthenic base oil refinery in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the company announced Thursday.

The upgrades will include enhancements to the refinery’s crude distillation unit, modifications to its base oil hydrotreaters, and an expansion of its terminal tank farm to support new product offerings.

“These investments will allow Ergon to further diversify its product portfolio,” said Don Davis, president of Ergon Refining, “Specifically, it will allow Ergon to produce innovative, next generation low aromatic products and high quality brightstocks.”

In addition to augmenting its current product offerings, the $150 million investment will give Ergon the capability to process an even broader range of crude oils from across the globe.

“Ergon is proud to offer our customers product lines of ever-increasing quality and security of supply," said Leslie Lampton, chairman of Ergon Refining. "This investment in our specialty naphthenic oil refinery is part of our continual effort to fulfill customers’ needs [now] and into the future.”

This project will optimize capabilities installed during Ergon’s $250 million expansion in 2009. Ergon has invested over $600 million into its specialty base oil refineries in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Newell, West Virginia, over the past 10 years, and continues to increase its global distribution footprint with terminals in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.