From Canadian crude to customers around the world, Phillips 66’s Central Corridor works in symphony to keep energy moving
SUMMARY
The Phillips 66 Central Corridor:
- Operates like a coastal network. A barrel can move from Western Canada through pipelines, storage and refineries to customers — or continue to the Gulf Coast for export by vessel when market conditions point that way. This connectivity offers optionality and the flexibility to move each barrel to the market where it can deliver the most value.
- Is expanding the 76® brand to Chicago. Supported by the Wood River Refinery and the region’s connected network and capabilities, 76 is bringing its distinctive identity to a new market.
- Can turn one stream of natural gas into several everyday products. Gas plants separate natural gas liquids, or NGLs, such as ethane, propane and butane, which can support heating, cooking, manufacturing, petrochemicals and gasoline blending.
- Has the muscle of a nearly 800,000-barrel-a-day refinery. The interconnectivity among Billings, Borger, Ponca City and Wood River turns four refineries into one powerful network that creates supply resiliency.
A barrel of oil to our refineries rarely follows a straight line. It may start with a purchase in Western Canada, move through pipelines and storage, be processed at a refinery and reach customers as gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. Or, when market conditions point elsewhere, it may move to the Gulf Coast for export on a vessel.
That’s integration in motion, connecting commercial decisions, physical assets and customer demand across one value chain.
This Today & Tomorrow spotlight shows how operations in Phillips 66’s Central Corridor work together, creating a distinctive advantage that drives value.
Right barrel, right market
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Phillips 66’s Calgary, Alberta, office is key to the Central Corridor.
Reliable source of supply
The team manages crude supply, trading, scheduling and logistics, connecting the system to Western Canadian crude, a reliable and important source of supply for Phillips 66 refineries and global markets.
Teams weigh market conditions, refinery needs, transportation options and product demand to determine where each barrel delivers the most value.
This requires close coordination across teams, locations and regions. Together, they move crude by pipeline, rail, ship or truck — getting the right barrel to the right market at the right time.
The Calgary office is more than just crude
Learn more from Chris Breen, crude trading lead, Americas and Calgary office lead, in the video below.
From supply to customers
From Montana’s Big Sky Country to the Texas Panhandle, Phillips 66’s Central Corridor is a network built around a simple idea: Connect the right assets to the products people need.
Built to work together
Four refineries — Billings in Montana, Borger in Texas, Ponca City in Oklahoma and Wood River in Illinois — turn crude oil into the fuels and products that keep communities, businesses and economies moving.
The advantage is not just the scale of those refineries, but how they work together. Their interconnectivity gives Phillips 66 greater flexibility to move crude and refined products across the system, respond to changing supply and demand, and serve customers across the region — an advantage over nonintegrated refineries in the region.
Same connection, different wellhead
Across Oklahoma and Kansas, gas plants, gathering systems and pipelines extend that network, bringing natural gas and natural gas liquids, or NGLs, from the field to customers and markets.
- Gather: The journey begins at the wellhead, where natural gas is collected.
- Process: It is then separated into NGLs, including ethane, propane and butane.
- Deliver: The natural gas then moves to customers, while NGLs move to markets such as heating, cooking, manufacturing, petrochemicals and gasoline blending.
Together, those connected assets help move the right products to the right customers and markets.
Ensuring reliability through our own products
Integration is also about putting our own products to work across the system. Phillips 66’s lubricant products help keep the pumps, compressors and other equipment that support midstream operations running smoothly.
The Phillips 66 Hartford Lubricants Plant in Illinois is a primary packaging and distribution hub for lubricant products used across various industries, including automakers, equipment manufacturers, power generation, agriculture and mining.
From the inland to the West Coast
Looking ahead, the Central Corridor is expected to supply Western Gateway, extending the reach of this connected system to Arizona, Nevada and California.
Illinois: An example of integration in motion
In 2025, Phillips 66 acquired the remaining 50% interest in WRB Refining LP, bringing Wood River Refinery and Borger Refinery fully under company ownership. The move strengthened Phillips 66’s position in a region where it already had scale, supply connectivity and strong customer relationships.
Chicago looks good in orange
The Wood River Refinery connects refining, midstream, marketing, aviation and commercial capabilities and gives Phillips 66 direct access to major Midwest demand centers, including Chicago.
In a region with a strong Phillips 66® and Conoco® brand presence, marketing has introduced the 76® brand in Chicago, successfully growing the brand’s presence in a new market.
Connecting aviation supply
The Wood River Refinery supplies aviation fuel — both jet and sustainable aviation fuel — directly to Chicago O’Hare International Airport through an established pipeline.
Under an agreement with United Airlines, SAF from the Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex in California is transported to the region, blended with conventional jet fuel produced at Wood River and delivered to O’Hare.
This agreement highlights the connectivity of the entire integrated system and logistics capabilities, moving product from the West Coast to the Central Corridor.
Nationwide, Phillips 66 Aviation supplies 10% of the nation’s jet fuel demand and operates one of the largest branded FBO networks, with a strong presence in this region.
The integration advantage
No single refinery, gas plant, pipeline, terminal or commercial office alone creates Phillips 66’s Central Corridor advantage. The connections between them create flexibility, supply reliability, expanded market access and the ability to respond quickly when conditions change.
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