Phillips 66’s Wood River Refinery in Illinois has played a key role in supplying sustainable aviation fuel to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, with an 11-million-gallon SAF milestone highlighting the role of refinery infrastructure, renewable feedstocks and state incentives in building the regional supply chain.
The development was followed by an event at the refinery in Roxana attended by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and industry representatives. The milestone involves a supply chain connecting Phillips 66, United Airlines, Microsoft and the State of Illinois, with conventional jet fuel produced at Wood River used in blending operations for SAF supplied to O’Hare.
Phillips 66 has separately confirmed that Wood River supplies both conventional jet fuel and SAF directly to O’Hare through an established pipeline network. Under an agreement with United Airlines, SAF produced at Phillips 66’s Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex in California is transported to the region, blended with conventional jet fuel produced at Wood River, and delivered to the Chicago airport.
Wood River refinery provides conventional jet fuel for SAF supply chain
The Wood River Refinery is a major Midwest fuel-production facility in Roxana, Illinois. Phillips 66 lists gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel among the refinery’s products, with the facility connected to regional markets through pipelines, rail, barges and trucks.
A key component of the refinery’s role in the SAF supply chain is its hydrocracker. The unit processes intermediate refinery streams into higher-value products including diesel, jet fuel and kerosene using pressure, heat, catalysts and hydrogen. Phillips 66 completed a major hydrocracker upgrade at Wood River in 2022, adding two reactors and increasing the unit’s ability to optimise fuel production.
The current SAF arrangement demonstrates how existing petroleum-refining infrastructure can be integrated into a lower-carbon aviation fuel supply chain rather than requiring every stage of the process to be located at a single facility.
11 million gallons of SAF delivered to O’Hare supply chain
The Illinois initiative has resulted in 11 million gallons of SAF being delivered through the supply chain, according to the reported milestone.
A Phillips 66 representative said the achievement demonstrates the integration of renewable feedstocks, renewable-fuel production, conventional jet-fuel production, logistics and airport delivery. A company representative separately described the chain as connecting production at the Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex with conventional jet fuel production at Wood River, blending infrastructure and delivery to O’Hare.
This arrangement allows renewable aviation fuel produced outside Illinois to reach one of the country’s major aviation markets using existing fuel infrastructure.
Used cooking oil and animal fats among SAF feedstocks
The reported SAF production relies on waste and residue-based feedstocks including used cooking oil, tallow and distillers corn oil.
These feedstocks are important to the SAF value chain because they can convert waste fats, oils and agricultural byproducts into transportation fuel. Their use also creates a connection between the aviation sector and agricultural and food-processing industries.
The sustainability performance of individual SAF pathways depends on feedstock origin, production technology, logistics and the methodology used to calculate lifecycle emissions. The Illinois SAF incentive framework, for example, includes lifecycle-emissions requirements for qualifying fuel.
Illinois SAF tax credit supports market development
Illinois has used financial incentives to reduce the cost differential between SAF and conventional aviation fuel.
The Invest in Illinois Act created a sustainable aviation fuel purchase credit. Under the legislation, qualifying SAF purchased for use by an air carrier in Illinois receives a $1.50-per-gallon credit. The legislation sets the credit period from June 1, 2023, through January 1, 2033, subject to the statutory eligibility requirements.
The policy is designed to address one of the major barriers to SAF adoption: its cost relative to conventional jet fuel.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has also documented Illinois’ SAF incentive, noting that qualifying SAF must meet a lifecycle carbon-emissions reduction threshold and that the credit applies to SAF used in Illinois regardless of where it is produced.
United Airlines and Microsoft linked to SAF initiative
The Wood River milestone forms part of a broader commercial arrangement involving United Airlines and Microsoft.
United has been expanding its use of SAF as part of its efforts to reduce aviation-related lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. In this case, the supply chain combines SAF produced in California with existing Illinois refining and distribution infrastructure before delivery to O’Hare.
Microsoft’s involvement adds a corporate demand component to the arrangement, while Illinois’ policy framework provides an incentive intended to improve the economics of SAF procurement.
The reported initiative therefore brings together fuel production, refining, logistics, airline demand, corporate participation and government incentives.
SAF policy aims to build an Illinois market
Governor Pritzker has highlighted SAF as an opportunity to connect Illinois’ agricultural and industrial sectors with aviation-fuel demand.
The state’s policy approach is significant because SAF production alone does not guarantee market uptake. Airlines must be able to obtain qualifying fuel at commercially viable prices, while producers need sufficient demand and policy certainty to support investment.
Illinois’ $1.50-per-gallon purchase credit is intended to narrow that economic gap. The state’s statutory framework also establishes eligibility requirements around the fuel’s emissions performance and feedstock or production pathway.
Bioenergy Business Analysis
The Wood River development demonstrates that SAF deployment can depend on integrated regional supply chains rather than standalone SAF production facilities. In this case, renewable fuel production in California is being connected with conventional jet-fuel infrastructure in Illinois and pipeline distribution to O’Hare. That model can potentially make use of existing refining, storage, blending and distribution assets while new SAF production capacity develops.
The more significant question for Illinois will be whether the 11-million-gallon milestone can translate into sustained SAF demand beyond individual agreements and incentive-supported purchases. The state’s $1.50-per-gallon credit directly addresses the price differential, but long-term market development will also depend on feedstock availability, lifecycle-emissions performance, production capacity, airline procurement commitments and the durability of policy support. The Wood River example is therefore relevant not simply as a refinery story, but as a case study in how policy, waste-derived feedstocks, existing fuel infrastructure and corporate offtake can be combined to establish a SAF market.
