Americas
Imperial Oil to shift Nova Scotia refinery to terminal after failing to find buyer
The company began shopping the refinery around in May of last year, saying competition in the area had led to weak financial returns. Imperial Oil said the failure to find a buyer illustrates "the challenges of operating a refinery of Dartmouth's scale in the competitive conditions of the Atlantic Basin market."
Tesoro sells Hawaii refinery to Par Petroleum
Par Petroleum agreed to buy all of Tesoro's interests in Tesoro Hawaii, which operates the 94,000 bpd Kapolei refinery, retail stations and associated logistical assets.
Angola ships first LNG cargo from flagship project
Originally the plan had been to deliver the LNG from the plant to the US market, but the shale gas boom in the country has forced the company to look for new customers in Asia and Europe. Angola LNG said it has executed a large number of agreements with energy companies across the world.
Motiva idles Port Arthur refinery unit in Texas to investigate possible leak
Motiva Enterprises shut down a production unit at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, after discovering a possible leak, according to a filing. The company took the catalytic feed hydrotreater unit offline.
Mitsui wins FEED work for Sasol Louisiana PE plant
The project is part of Sasol’s planned world-scale ethane cracker and derivatives complex to be built in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The plant's low-density polyethylene (LDPE) capacity will be 420,000 tpy.
US safety board to probe Williams olefins blast
The CSB looks at all areas of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations and industry standards.
Refinery watch: Planned and unplanned US outages (1)
Citgo Petroleum shut down several units June 12 at its refinery in Lemont, Ill., after the facility was struck by lightning, according to a government filing. Several units at Marathon Petroleum's 80,000 bpd refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained off line June 10 following a leak at the refinery's FCCU.
Explosion hits Williams Louisiana olefins plant
An explosion and subsequent fire rocked the Williams olefins plant in Geismar, Louisiana, leading to evacuations, two deaths and numerous injuries. Ambulances and helicopters transported those injured facility to local hospitals and about 300 workers were evacuated from the scene.
US petrochemical companies seek exports to Asia
Hydraulic fracturing and other drilling technologies are keeping prices for natural gas -- a key raw material for Dow Chemical and other chemical producers -- below $4/MMBtu. That's cheap enough that the US chemical industry can start taking market share from Middle Eastern producers.
BP sees US oil production rising at record pace
In its world energy review, BP revealed that 2012 had the largest single-year increase ever seen in the US, largely from unconventional hydrocarbons such as tight oil. This illustrates an example of the increasing diversity of energy sources as the global market continues to adapt and evolve.
- Allied Biofuels signs PIA with Uzbekistan to advance $6-B biofuels refinery project 4/10
- Nufarm strengthens strategic collaboration to support long term growth in biofuels production 4/10
- Pertamina and CRecTech sign MoU to explore pilot biogas-to-biomethanol facility in SEZ, Indonesia 4/10
- Shell Chemicals and Syensqo partner to deliver low-carbon ethylene oxide solutions 4/10
- HAMR Energy’s nationally significant fuel projects selected for Australian Government’s Investor Front Door Pilot 4/10
- HD Hyundai Heavy Industries builds world's first ammonia-powered vessel 4/10
