Green Fuels Operating breaks ground on $400 million Oklahoma refinery

Green Fuels Operating is investing $400 million to develop a new fuel production facility on the site of a former refinery complex in Duncan, Oklahoma. The groundbreaking ceremony took place May 29 and was attended by federal, state, and local officials, including Congressman Tom Cole and Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell.

The refinery will be built on a redeveloped brownfield property that previously housed refining operations from the 1920s until its closure in 1983.

According to project officials, the facility will begin operations with a refining capacity of 30,000 barrels per day and will be designed for expansion to 50,000 barrels per day. The site will also include storage capacity for up to one million barrels and will operate continuously throughout the year.

The refinery is expected to produce a range of petroleum products, including asphalt, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, gasoline, and aviation fuel. Green Fuels Operating said the facility will utilize patented hydrocarbon processing technology that incorporates flash vacuum separation and a closed-loop emissions capture system intended to reduce emissions, recover vapors, and operate at lower processing temperatures than conventional refining methods.

The development is projected to create 75 to 80 permanent full-time positions in operations, engineering, technical, and skilled trade roles, while also generating hundreds of indirect jobs throughout the region.

The project follows years of environmental remediation and redevelopment efforts at the former refinery property. After extensive cleanup activities overseen by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the site was certified for brownfield redevelopment, allowing new industrial investment to move forward.