According to Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery Manager Darren Cunningham, it’s an exciting time for everyone associated with the refinery. Not only is the refinery undergoing a modernization to its FCC unit, but it is also a steady leader in operational excellence, personnel and process safety, and environmental stewardship. Cunningham is focused on continuing to make the Bayway Refinery a safe place to work. In addition, he wants the refinery — located in Linden, New Jersey — to be a facility that receives continuous investments to maintain standards and increase capabilities.
Cunningham was born in Beverley, a small town in northern England. Growing up, he excelled at math, science and chemistry in school. But when he visited the library during a career day and discovered chemical engineering, that changed everything. Being the first person in his family to go to college, Cunningham enrolled in the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
“When I graduated, I chose the downstream side of the oil and gas industry because refineries interested me,” Cunningham said. “I began my career with Conoco and joined the Humber Refinery in 1985. While I was there, I held various roles in engineering, planning and economics.”
Since his first job with Conoco, Cunningham has traveled and worked throughout the globe. In 1993, he transferred to the commercial office in London as a crude oil trader. This was followed by assignments in Singapore and Houston, where he worked in business development and corporate strategy roles. After working on the merger of Conoco and Phillips, Cunningham returned to the Humber Refinery in 2002 and held various leadership and management roles in operations for 10 years. In 2013, he joined the Bayway Refinery as its operations manager, and then took the reins as refinery manager in August 2014.
“I’ve enjoyed all my positions for different reasons,” Cunningham said. “Any place you live is what you make of it. I certainly enjoy living in the Northeast U.S., and so does my family. I’ve been able to bring my various experiences into this refinery, and I think that’s been beneficial.”
In his current role, Cunningham oversees the Bayway Refinery, also known as “The Gasoline Machine.” The refinery earned this nickname because it is home to one of the largest FCC units in the world, enabling it to produce enough gasoline to meet more than half of New Jersey’s annual demand. The refinery can also produce 775 million pounds of polypropylene per year through its polypropylene plant.
“Every 10 seconds, the refinery produces enough gasoline to supply the average driver’s vehicle for a year,” Cunningham explained. “This refinery has been providing residents and businesses in the region with fuels, plastics and other products that have been improving people’s lives for more than a century.”
The Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery was built by the Standard Oil New Jersey Co. and began operations in January 1909 with an initial crude oil processing capacity of 20,000 bpd. Over time, the refinery was expanded and modernized by a series of companies that would own and operate the facility. Today, the refinery has a crude capacity of 238,000 bpd and a total capacity of 285,000 bpd.
“The Bayway Refinery processes mainly light, low-sulfur crude oil to manufacture a variety of energy products,” Cunningham said. “Crude oil is supplied to the refinery by tanker from Canada and West Africa. U.S. shale crude oil is supplied to the refinery using a combination of rail and marine transport. Products are distributed to East Coast customers via barges, trucks, pipelines and railcars.”
To manage “The Gasoline Machine,” Cunningham said a certain amount of technical ability and experience is required, but the most important skill is being able to communicate clearly.
“I have to lead, motivate and listen to a large organization of people,” Cunningham said. “It’s important not to micromanage, but at the same time I don’t want be too remote. In this kind of management position, it’s necessary to strike a balance of when to get involved and when to step back.”
Operational excellence
According to Cunningham, operational excellence is an intricate piece of running a refinery; it must be done, and it must be done well.
“Operational excellence doesn’t happen on its own, and it doesn’t just take one person,” Cunningham explained. “A refinery is a large, complex organization with many moving parts and many people. It takes all 800 Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery employees, plus contractor employees, to achieve operational excellence. There are some people who say running a refinery is a challenge every day. You have to know how to clear up competing initiatives, maintain consistency, allocate resources properly and make sure people focus on what’s important.”
The operational excellence achieved by the Bayway Refinery has earned it national recognition. It is one of three Phillips 66 refineries that earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR, which signifies the industrial facility performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by EPA.
FCC modernization
In regard to FCC modernization, the Bayway Refinery is set to replace the existing older reactor with modern technology that will increase gasoline and diesel production.
“The FCC modernization project is a $150 million investment,” Cunningham said. “Our FCC unit is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and third largest in the world. We’re updating 1940s technology to state-of-the-art technology. Construction is underway, and the modernization project will be completed in 2018.”
Commitment to HSE performance
According to Cunningham, Phillips 66 is committed to protecting the health and safety of those who play a part in its operations and live in the communities where it operates. The Bayway Refinery conducts its business with respect and care for the environment and manages risks to drive sustainable business growth.
“We provide our employees and contractors with the tools and training to operate the refinery safely and maintain it in optimum condition,” Cunningham said. “What we’re big on is making sure we report all serious incidents regardless of outcome. If someone drops an object from high up, even if it doesn’t hit anyone, we still treat that as a serious incident and investigate. Our recordable incident rate is well below the industry average.”
Bayway Refinery in the community
Phillips 66’s refineries pride themselves on being responsible citizens and good neighbors, and the Bayway Refinery is no exception. The Bayway Refinery maintains an open dialogue with its neighboring communities through the Bayway Industrial Complex Community Advisory Panel.
“We invest in our community through charitable contributions, community engagement, employee volunteerism, sponsorships and civic leadership,” Cunningham said. “We encourage and support our employees’ involvement in local nonprofit organizations by offering matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs.”
For example, the Bayway Refinery supports the Middlesex County College’s Process Technology course through an industry and educational partnership to develop skilled workers for the process industry. Another example is Never Forget Thy Neighbor, an employee-driven program that helps the refinery’s neighbors in need. Bayway Refinery employee volunteers donate, sort and distribute clothing, food, toys and household items to charitable organizations in the local community.
“I also sit on the board of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and we are members of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association,” Cunningham said. “This allows me to tap into the community and New Jersey as a whole. In addition, I meet with local legislators regularly to advocate on behalf of the Bayway Refinery, making sure our voices are heard. Refineries are facing a constantly challenging regulatory environment. What we do is very important, so we have to be consistent and make sure our positive messages are delivered to the public.”
Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery
1400 Park Ave. South
Linden, NJ 07036
(908) 523-6041
www.phillips66.com
Employees: 800 employees
Products: Gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, jet fuel, bunker fuel oil, propane, propylene, polypropylene, butane and isobutylene.
Size: 1,350 acres
