ConocoPhillips, Cenovus start up $3.8B Illinois refinery projectCanadian Press 12/01/11

CALGARY –ConocoPhillips said Wednesday it has started up a $3.8-billion coker and refinery expansion project in Illinois that is part of a joint-venture with Calgary oil company Cenovus Energy Inc.The project increases the crude capacity of the Wood River Refinery by 50,000 barrels per day and enhances its ability to process heavy Canadian crude, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said in a statement.

The refinery in Roxana, Ill., and another in Borger, Texas, are part of a partnership with Cenovus, which also includes the Canadian firm’s Foster Creek and Christina Lake oilsands projects in northern Alberta.

The expansion also improves the refinery’s clean product yield by five per cent, which means a 50,000-barrel-per-day increase in gasoline and distillate production capacity.ConocoPhillips and Cenovus’ predecessor company, Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA), signed their partnership in 2007. Cenovus was spun of from Encana in late 2009.