The 85 000 bpd NHT took three years and cost more than US$300 million to build, Sarah Howell, a spokeswoman for BP, said.

“The NHT allows the refinery to produce the full slate of US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 fuels, which require gasoline to have an average sulfur content of no more than 10 parts per million,” she said.

Hydrotreaters use hydrogen to remove sulfur from motor fuels.