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How a major U.S. oil refinery regained control of air emissions management

A sunsetting system hid how emissions were calculated, and spreadsheets filled the gaps. With Cority and ERM, the refinery now maintains its own setup.

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75%

Less spent on consultants

Earlier annual reporting

4 weeks

Hourly calculations

210 tanks

Final report output

One click

Industry:

OIL REFINING

Facility:

210 TANKS
410 PROCESS UNITS

Regulatory context:

NON-ATTAINMENT AREA

Cority Deployed:

AIR EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT · IMPLEMENTED WITH EMR

THE CONTEXT

Pemex

A U.S. refinery facing demanding air emissions requirements

The facility produces refined products for domestic and international markets. In a non-attainment area, it reports under Title V, the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, and state and local rules. Hourly emissions calculations add to the complexity.

THE CHALLENGE

Seeing the data behind emissions

The refinery’s legacy environmental system was being sunset. Its calculations were difficult to trace back to source data, while spreadsheets filled gaps in tracking site-wide limits.

“They didn’t have any automated way to track against some of their site-wide compliance limits.” — EHS Manager

The team needed to manage hourly limits and several reporting programs. Yet manual work and opaque calculations made audits harder and kept outside consultants involved.

“We were a SharePoint, Excel, shared network drive nightmare. Information was everywhere, from filing cabinets to storing it online,” Bryn explains.

This chaos was compounded by external factors

Title V, EPA GHG, state/local programs use different data formats

Manual tracking of site-wide limits via spreadsheets

Consultant support costs exceeded $200K annually

All of this created what Bryn describes as

“a mismatch of information all over the place.”

THE PROBLEM

When calculations stay hidden

The legacy system, now being sunset, obscured how source data became reported emissions. The team needed traceable inputs and its own control.

A black box with no way to trace calculations

A black box

External experts handled fixes and upkeep at a cost above $200K a year. The refinery still faced year-end reporting scrambles because the legacy system was a black box—the team couldn't see how data was preprocessed or traced back to its source. This opacity meant audits were difficult, and compliance relied heavily on consultant expertise rather than in-house knowledge.

THE APPROACH

A configurable air emissions system

The refinery, ERM and Cority worked closely to configure the system for the facility's needs. Live reporting followed about 10 months after kickoff...

Cority and ERM configured Cority’s Air Emissions Management software for hourly calculations across 210 tanks and 410 process units.

Integration pivot

Halfway through, the refinery lost IT support for its integration. Cority and ERM pivoted to a low-cost, reliable data connection.

Open methods

The team found legacy equation errors and could now trace emissions factors and inputs.

THE TRANSFORMATION

Control through reporting

A once-opaque system gave way to a configuration the refinery can

can inspect and maintain.

So they started by addressing their emissions control challenges through these five foundational implementation steps.

Map hourly requirements

01 /

02 /

Configure tanks

03 /

Adapt integration

04 /

Trace calculation inputs

05 /

Move to live reporting

The team now monitors and updates their emissions data throughout the year. This continuous oversight means they arrive at year-end with confidence in their reporting status—allowing them to complete annual reporting weeks earlier and eliminate the typical end-of-year rush.

Because they can maintain the system themselves, the team now has full transparency into how calculations are being made. This level of visibility didn't exist before. Increased visibility into air emissions management meant time, money, and resources saved—and more transparent, auditable reporting overall.

We got the report approved at the beginning of March, which is one month before the timeframe of when it's due. That is the earliest we have ever gotten it done."

THE OUTCOME

Reporting four weeks earlier

Annual reporting wrapped four weeks earlier than ever before. The team reviewed visible calculations throughout the year.

Ergonomics

75% lower annual consultant costs: $200K to about $50K

“That is the earliest we have ever gotten it done.” — EHS Manager

But the successes don’t end there. Since rolling out Cority at Pemex, the team has achieved the following wins:

Hourly calculations across 210 storage tanks.

Visible factors and methods aid audit review.

Nine file pulls replaced by one-click output.

Internal staff maintain the configuration.

Greater confidence in emissions data.

The environmental team now has a clearer view of calculations and more control over its annual reporting process.

"We got the report approved at the beginning of March, which is one month before the timeframe of when it's due. That is the earliest we have ever gotten it done." –EHS Manager

See what connected emissions data can change

Discuss air emissions calculations, reporting, and audit readiness with Cority.