Suncor refinery closure likely to impact Coloradans' fuel costs
Suncor announced this week it is temporarily shuttering refining operations in the Denver area, and the move will likely affect your pocketbook. That's according to the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association.
Last week's cold snap damaged equipment at the Commerce City plant and Suncor said it could take weeks to bring the refinery back online.
CWPMA's Grier Bailey compared the refinery shutdown to Xcel Energy saying 40% of its energy grid was offline. Suncor is the largest supplier of transportation fuel in Colorado, with a capacity to refine 103,000 barrels of crude oil every day, making up to 40% of the state's supply.
"This is leaving an elephant-sized gap in the supply market," Bailey said. The degree to which gasoline prices will go up locally depends on the degree to which other refineries can cover the gap while Suncor's remains closed, Bailey added.
The impact will be felt by consumers, Bailey said, and also by industries including agriculture, skiing and more.
In a statement released Wednesday, Suncor said, It "was determined that the entire facility would be shut down and put into safe mode to allow for the inspection of all units and repair of the damaged equipment. The inspection and repair of the damaged equipment is ongoing. Based on our current assessment we anticipate a progressive restart of the facility with a return to full operations expected to be completed by late Q1 2023."
Bailey said he hoped the refinery can go fully back online sooner than three months from now, and the impact of such a long shutdown, he said, would be "detrimental."
