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Wood River Refinery

The Wood River, Illinois refinery was built in 1917 and has been in operation ever since. It was established by the Shell Oil Company, and is now run by ConocoPhillips with a daily output level of 322,000 barrels of crude oil.

ConocoPhillips has had great success with this plant, and as of 2007, they began plans for a massive expansion and upgrade to the facility. This project involved investing up to $2 billion to increase the production of oil up to 370,000 barrels on a daily basis. One of the primary aspects of this plan is to begin processing Canadian oil. The new equipment would be able to better handle this product, which is considered to be lower in quality than other crude sources, but the supply is very large and therefore worthy of further exploration. The proposed expansion is expected to be completed sometime in 2010.

Environmental activists had displayed a concern over the expansion, and how it will affect the local community. They have petitioned ConocoPhillips to take measures to reduce levels of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions with the new equipment that will be used in the Canadian oil processing units. The company has done similar projects at a facility they operate in California, and activists seek to have the same safety regulations put into place in Illinois.

In 2005 a power failure at the plant led to a fire within a major processing unit. The blaze was quickly put out by on site crews, but the flames did damage to the equipment. ConocoPhillips began immediate efforts to restore the plant to full operational capacity. No one was injured during the fire.

The history of the Wood River refinery can be seen and enjoyed at the History Museum that is located right in front of the actual refinery. The museum features a large number of actual artifacts from early days of the refinery. One part of the plant's history that is not a source of pride was the presence of products that were made out of asbestos. Asbestos is a natural material that was used as a major building block in items that were purchased for oil refineries, other industrial settings, offices and homes. It was popular for many years before it was found to be a highly toxic substance. People who have been exposed to asbestos are at risk for contracting cancerous diseases, the most well known of which is mesothelioma cancer. This disease has become so prominent in people who worked at locations like oil refineries that there are many massive lawsuits prepared on behalf of victims every year. Signs of these diseases may take years to develop, so anyone who worked at the Wood River refinery, or any other location that utilized asbestos based products should be checked out by a medical professional.

Last modified: December 09 2009.