Pam Brady, NW External Affairs for BP in Whatcom County, gave a very informative, high level overview of BP doing business in Whatcom County. BP has been the largest energy investor in the United States over the last 10 years. It has 4 offshore platforms, 14 wind farms, 3 refineries, is the number one marketer of natural gas, has 7,100 retails sites and production of 1.3M gallons per day. BP in the Northwest is focused on its refinery, AM/PM retail stores, shipping and pipelines.
Construction on BP Cherry Point began in 1969 and the facility became operational in 1971. It produces 230,000 barrels per day (about 9.6 million gallons). 90% are fuels used for transportation purposes and it is the largest marketer of gasoline on the West Cost. Moreover, it uses the calcined coke from the bottom of its barrels to make aluminum; it is one of the largest producers of calcined coke with 1 in 6 aluminum cans attributed to BP.
BP’s economic impact in Whatcom County and Washington state is significant. It does approximately $275,000,000 of work with vendors in our State and supports 7,700 jobs. It pays around $100,000,000 in taxes, has 154 retail sites and has donated about $5,000,000 to the United Way. In Whatcom County, BP is the largest private employer with 800 employees. On a daily basis it has 700 contractors doing work at its facility and up to 5,000 daily contractors during turn around. A snapshot of what BP produces in 1 day using crude oil is gets from Canada, Midwest, Alaska, South America, Russia, West Africa and the Middle East: enough jet fuel to fly from Seattle to New York 1,000 times, enough propane for 140,000 BBQs to work for 40 years, enough fuel to drive a semitruck around the world 40 times.
BP now has its own rail track and prides itself on staying ahead of regulatory standards and operating its rail under the most stringent regulatory and safety standards. BP owns approximately 3,300 acres of real property in Whatcom County with 1,000 of that being developed. BP is focused on environmental issues and partners with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) to restore Terrell Creek for salmon restoration. BP’s property also has been preserved for hunting and walking trails. BP has been a member of the World Wildlife Habitat since 2009 and also focuses on shoreline monitoring, wetland restoration, amphibian monitoring and the Heron Center at Birch Bay State Park.
Pam finished her presentation with letting us know what’s new at BP. BP is working on finishing a coker heater project, and is focusing on renewable diesel production. They also finished a third loop at the rail facility which makes for much smoother logistics. Finally, BP has developed Business Resources Groups to support various groups in the workplace including, women, the LGBQT community, veterans, working parents, and younger employees.
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