Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

ConocoPhillips has been given a green light to reopen a refinery in Hartford, Illlinois, in a move officials hope will take some of the sting out of rising gasoline prices.

The company will be allowed to restart the closed crude oil refining unit even though the company has not yet received a permanent permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to operate it and other units purchased last year from Premcor (formerly the Clark oil company).

Officials said the temporary permit will allow ConocoPhillips' Wood River Refinery to maintain current production levels despite problems with one of its refining units.

The Premcor refinery closed in the fall of 2002, and ConocoPhillips purchased part of it last year. ConocoPhillips' Wood River Refinery and the former Premcor refinery are adjacent to each other.