ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge refinery
Mars attacks US oil industry
Crude quality issues are an often understated risk to energy security, highlighted by problems at a key US refinery
ExxonMobil's 522,000b/d Baton Rouge refinery, one of the nation's largest, has halted purchases of Mars crude oil because of a critical zinc contamination that poses a serious threat to refinery operations. The quality issue emerged following Chevron’s startup of an offshore oil well. Mars crude, along with Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon is a key US medium sour crude oil and is also a component of the Argus Sour Crude Index benchmark. 550,000b/d – Mars production Zinc poses a significant problem for refinery equipment, and refiners—especially on the US Gulf Coast—will be desperate to find alternatives to Mars. While ExxonMobil is set to borrow 1m bl of oil from the Strategic Petr
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