BP expands ULSD business to Chicago, tapping whiting, ind., refinery

Diesel Fuel News, Feb 17, 2003

BP announced a 21 million gallons/year ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) supply deal for Chicago Transit Authority last week, at about 8 cents/gallon premium over conventional bus diesel fuel. Nearly 2,000 CTA buses will use the No.1-grade fuel, along with other diesel-powered CTA equipment. Contract specs call for a 30-ppm sulfur maximum, although BP expects ULSD deliveries (from its nearby Whiting refinery) to be around 15-ppm sulfur.

CTA will pair the fuel with 226 new buses equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPFs) delivered this year, and another 484 existing buses with DPF retrofits. "ULSD is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions because it allows us to use in new buses that come equipment with particulate filters, retrofit many of our existing buses, and also reduce emissions from buses that cannot be fitted with filters," CTA president Frank Kruesi said. More Chicago fleets could tag-on to CTA's ULSD move, he added.