Alaskan refineries were processing a wide variety of petroleum products , Petro Star ’ s founders recognized the need for a refinery that would process mid-end distillates such as heating oil , diesel and aviation fuels for homes and businesses in Alaska . Today , with over 30 years of experience serving Alaska ’ s unique fuel needs , Petro Star has evolved into a successful team of integrated companies , and remains the only locally-owned refining company in the state .

While it ’ s clear that Petro Star serves a very niche market in the region , it might seem at face value that they have little room to expand in Alaska without a dramatic

increase in demand . That is far from the case , according to [ Mark John , Vice President of Business Development and Marketing ].

“ Room to grow for us means expanding our current production of similar products and actually looking at some new products ,” he said . “ Those products would be made from utilizing different parts of the barrel besides the diesel part , whether that ’ s the heavier part of the barrel or possibly the lighter end of the barrel . Alaska is driven by the price of crude so the economy here is dependent on that price , but we are definitely more in a growth mode now than we have been for a while .”

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