MMEX’s proposed Phase I rudimentary topping unit, if financed, and built would be unable to produce a single barrel of marketable product. Even ignoring its stranded, isolated location, the proposed Phase I system is the tiniest fraction of a real refinery. I’ve taken one representation, in this case, OSHA, of a complex, productive refinery block diagram for context - and from that block diagram, produced the subset of MMEX’s proposed Phase I “teapot,” rudimentary topping unit - the one in which they “forgot” to add a desalter (highlighted in yellow in the inset).
The missing desalter, and other critical components, combined with utter incompetence on Mad J.’s part to forecast increasing costs in the Permian, ran the tab up on MMEX’s useless topping unit by $20-million, without ever bending plate, laying a weld, or any material activity on the project.
This simple picture shows just how far off the mark Mad J. is, and why MMEX has zero chance of progressing.
A complex refinery:
MMEX’s Phase I: