WOODS CROSS -- For the workers at Silver Eagle Refinery, every day seems to be routine. They refine things. But it's what they make that makes it, well, not so routine. The Silver Eagle Refinery doesn't get as much attention as its larger cousins, Chevron and Flying J, but it operates in essentially the same way -- breaking down crude oil into several components, which leads to the creation of many different products. "From our crude oil we can create gas, diesel fuel, and wax," said K.B. Carrol, the refineries manager. "And we aren't subsidized to anyone, so we ship out to areas along the neighboring states." The refinery itself originally started as a wax production plant in 1951, when their name was Sure Sale Wax Plant. Since then they've grown in production; however, they suffered a setback in 2000 when they were forced to shut down after the price of crude oil dropped too low for the refinery to operate. "Because we're such a small refinery, the price of crude oil has to be at a certain range in order for us to fully operate," said Carrol. "It was a minor setback until we were purchased in 2001 and renamed Silver Eagle."

The operation itself is small, consisting of approximately 85 employees, 30 of which are contracted. They operate on a "dual shift" system consisting of a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift and vice versa. And there's never a day off.

"We could close down the plant if we wanted to," said Cody Evans, a Processing Engineer. "But we never take a day off.

"There's always at least five or six people here to keep the refinery running.

"Every minute we don't operate we lose money. That's why it's very important for us to operate 24 hours a day."

While running as a refinery, they have holding barrels that contain each separate material they make.

The gas barrels are separated into three containers: one for gasoline, one for diesel fuel, and one for kerosene. The other barrels are at the other end of the plant for safety reasons, according to Evans.

"Since we have so many products that differ from just gas, we keep them in a separate, safer area," said Evans. "Plus the location for these tanks is in proximity with where we load the fuel and gas."

By all standards, the refinery's output is considered small to other refineries in the U.S.

"A typical refinery in the U.S. will produce about 500,000 barrels of product per day," said Carrol.

"We produce anywhere from 12 to 15 thousand barrels a day."

"One could call us a 'mini' refinery if they wanted to because we're so small."

That doesn't deter them from saying their any less important than the bigger, more productive refineries, though.

"We create a lot of products that other refineries aren't able to," said Evans. "But we are able to produce enough to keep us running smoothly.

"Everything we make here is distributed in Davis County and along the Wasatch Front, so it's important to us that we stay operable."

sgillet@davisclipper.com