Home / South America / Chile / Oil refineries / ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery

Refinery in Chile. Approximate location -36.77918, -73.12513.

RefineryChileCO₂ estimate (modelled)

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery is a refinery in Chile. Its listed capacity is 116,000 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Empresa Nacional del Petróleo. By capacity it ranks #1 among 3 oil refineries in Chile. It emits about 1,283,437 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 299k passenger cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 29% above the national median for this sector.

116,000BBL per day
1,283,437t CO₂e / yr (Climate TRACE)
#1CO₂ rank in Chile
11.06t CO₂ per capacity unit

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1753464.

Data status

Known source data

FacilityENAP Bio-Bio Refinery Climate TRACE
CountryChile Climate TRACE
Coordinates-36.77918, -73.12513 Climate TRACE
Sector / subsectoroil-and-gas-refining Climate TRACE
Reported capacity116,000 BBL per day Climate TRACE
Owner / operatorEmpresa Nacional del Petróleo Climate TRACE
Modelled CO₂e1,283,437 t/yr Climate TRACE

Calculated from the dataset

Chile rank#1 of 20 · top 5.0% calculated
Global oil-and-gas-refining rank#258 of 630 · top 41.0% calculated
Climate contextderived from coordinates calculated

Not available

Fuel typeNot available not in dataset
Thermal capacity (MW)Not available not in dataset

Source data, measured cross-checks and calculated values are kept separate. No confidence percentage is invented.

Similar facilities by modelled emissions

Same Climate TRACE subsector; closest non-placeholder modelled CO₂e values. Russia and Belarus excluded.

Operating power plants within 50 km

PowerAtlas operating assets, ordered by great-circle distance from published coordinates.

In context: how this facility compares

At 116,000 BBL per day, ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery is around the median refinery in Chile (104,000 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 1,283,437 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

299kcars driven for a year
167khomes' annual energy use
21 milliontree seedlings grown 10 years

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Carbon cost, Scope 1 & decarbonization potential

At its reported 1.3M t CO₂e/yr (Scope 1), ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery carries no domestic carbon price; refinerys are not a CBAM-covered good, so there is no border-carbon liability. At the EU ETS reference price (€75/t) the emissions carry an indicative carbon value of €96.7M/yr. The fastest decarbonization lever is energy efficiency: eliminating heat loss on hot equipment (removable insulation, steam & waste-heat recovery) typically cuts 2–5% of fuel-related CO₂ — here ≈26k t–64k t/yr, worth €1.9M€4.8M, with payback up to 2 years. No domestic carbon price — but cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizer and hydrogen exported to the EU face CBAM at €75/t (rising to 100% by 2034).

1.3M t CO₂e / yrScope 1 emissions
€96.7M/yrindicative carbon value (not a CBAM liability)
26k t–64k t/yr ≈ €1.9M€4.8MDecarbonization potential

Carbon price: EU CBAM €75/t · EU ETS €79/t, July 2, 2026, refreshed live via Carbon Hub. CO₂: Climate TRACE. Efficiency range: US DOE / ASTM C680 (method). Indicative carbon value, not the cash bill — free allocation applies; not compliance advice. Estimate the saving for this site →

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in Chile

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery: 116,000 BBL per day116kENAP Bio-B…ENAP Concon Refinery: 104,000 BBL per day104kENAP Conco…ENAP Gregorio Refinery: 18,000 BBL per day18kENAP Grego…

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Empresa Nacional del Petróleo. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen Csb), at 36.8°S in the southern hemisphere.

~14°Ctypical annual mean
~21°Ctypical warm-season
Warm-summer mediterranean: four distinct seasons — cold winters and warm summers

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

C5ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
37/100environmental-severity index
8.0°Cseasonal temperature swing
11 kmdistance to coast
Very highCUI risk tier

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1375 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.06× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1306 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #1 largest of 3 oil refineries in Chile by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

Location

Coordinates -36.77918, -73.12513. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

For a refinery, the main modular-insulation targets are crude & vacuum distillation columns, fired heaters, heat exchangers, steam lines, valves & flanges. Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 150–550 °C.

Indicative recoverable energy

A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 47,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 9,400 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.

See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →

Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.

External climate finance your country can access

For energy-efficiency projects around process heat, likely external funding channels include:

CBAM. Exporters of cement, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — cutting embedded emissions (efficiency + insulation) lowers the levy.

Sources: country climate-finance facilities and public development-bank programmes.

Frequently asked questions

What type of facility is ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery?

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery is a refinery in Chile. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

What capacity is listed for ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery?

The open dataset lists 116,000 BBL per day of capacity for ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery.

How much CO₂ does ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery emit?

The page uses about 1,283,437 t CO₂e/year from the open dataset It ranks #1 among facilities in Chile by estimated CO₂.

Where is ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery located?

ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery is in Chile at approximately -36.77918, -73.12513.

Who operates ENAP Bio-Bio Refinery?

The operator recorded in the open dataset is Empresa Nacional del Petróleo.

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