This was a great idea, right until the massive fuel reserves where found in the Dakotas.
I think you missed this part of the article:
"One of the main costs Delta has focused on at the Trainer plant has been crude. Nearly half of the refining capacity on the East Coast was facing shutdown at the end of 2011, as well as plants in the Caribbean that supplied that market, due to the high cost of importing oil from West Africa and the North Sea.
Facing higher jet costs as its traditional suppliers dwindled, Delta bought Trainer from Phillips 66. It is now seeking to drive down costs by tapping into the cheap crude at the center of the U.S. oil boom. By the end of the year, Bastian said 50,000 barrels per day of oil from North Dakota's Bakken region could supply the 185,000 bpd plant at a substantial discount to internationally purchased oil.
Midwest and Gulf Coast refiners have enjoyed better margins over the past two years thanks to the Bakken, and other shale oil plays.
"This is going to continue to grow as we improve the logistics and distribution capabilities to get more Bakken into the refinery," said Bastian, adding cost savings could be in excess of $100 million per year.
In the medium term the plant could take up to half its crude from North Dakota, and potentially all of its feedstock in the longer term, Bastian said.
The realization that the Bakken crude, which had been helping Midwest refiners since production started to surge in 2010, did not come until after Delta had purchased the plant, according to CEO Richard Anderson. Since then, several East Coast plants have sought to bring in Bakken crude by rail to cut costs."
Bye Bye---General Lee
