Oregon ethanol plant switches over to crude oil trans-shipping, while idled

In Oregon, local media is reporting that the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery in Clatskanie, which halted ethanol production earlier this year as grain prices rose, has switched it operations over to logitics and distribution for both ethanol and crude oil. The plant, which reduced its workforce from 70 to 20 earlier this year when ethanol spreads collapsed, will import crude and ethanol by rail and ship it on barges that could go to either Asia or US West Coast refineries. “These barges, like much of the traffic on the Columbia, are capable of serving both Asian markets and refineries on the U.S. West Coast,” Fleischauer told tdn.com.