Marathon Petroleum Corp. on Nov. 1 confirmed that phase 1 of the renewable diesel conversion project at the company’s Martinez refinery in California is expected to be mechanically complete by the end of 2022.

Marathon President and CEO Michael Hennigan briefly discussed the conversion project during the company’s third quarter earnings call, held Nov. 1.

The Martinez project is being developed under a joint venture finalized with Neste in September. Renewable diesel production at the facility is expected to begin in early 2023, with feedstock pretreatment capabilities expected to come online during the second half of the year. By the end of 2023, the project is expected to have the capacity to produce 730 MMgy. 

Hennigan said Marathon is excited about the partnership with Neste, which he called “a global leader in feedstock procurement and renewable fuels production.” Hennigan also discussed the expected environmental impacts of the conversion project. He said the company currently anticipates the conversion will result in a 60 percent reduction in the facility’s scope one and scope two greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 70 percent lower total criteria air pollutants, and 1 billion gallons of water saved annually.

Brian Partee, senior vice president of global clean products at Marathon, discussed feedstock procurement and logistics. He said the company has been building relationships with feedstock suppliers since it forayed into the renewable diesel sector two years ago with the conversion of its refinery in Dickinson, North Dakota. He also discussed the logistics advantages of the Martinez refinery, noting that Marathon has three facilities in the Bay Area it is bringing feedstocks into, all of which have access to rail and marine transport. The company also has two operational pretreatment facilities in the central U.S. During the earnings call, Partee also noted that Marathon is seeing stable margin production at the Dickinson biorefinery.