Americas
US demand for oil, products drops to historic lows
Demand for all major petroleum products was lower in 2012, led by a near 400,000-bpd decline in gasoline demand. Gasoline use fell 0.6% to an average of 8.703 million bpd, the weakest level in 11 years. Gasoline is the most widely used petroleum product in the world's biggest oil consumer.
Japan's Tepco to import US liquefied petroleum gas from Enterprise Products
Enterprise processed a company record of 707,000 bbl, or 60,800 tons, a day of NGLs in the fourth quarter. Enterprise is putting the finishing touches on nearly doubling its propane-export capacity to 7.5 million bbl/month, which it says will bring its LPG export sales to more than Saudi Arabia.
Accusations fly at Deepwater Horizon spill trial
Lawyers for BP, Transocean, Halliburton, the federal government, Gulf Coast states and local businesses traded barbs over who is to blame for the deadly 2010 explosion.
Sempra expects US gas-export approval in 2013
The company applied in December with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval of the project, and it expects to obtain the agency's approval by the end of this year, said Sempra CEO Debra Reed. The gas-export terminal is designed to export up to 12 million tpy of natural gas.
Shell to acquire Repsol gas liquefaction facilities in Peru, Trinidad and Tobago
Long rumored, the acquisition includes LNG assets outside of North America, including supply positions in Peru and Trinidad & Tobago, for a cash consideration of $4.4 billion. Shell will also assume balance sheet liabilities predominantly reflecting leases for LNG ship charters of currently $1.8 billion.
TPC approves engineering design phase for Texas butadiene expansion
This approval follows the successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources. TPC Group said it anticipates that its engineering design optimization will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.
Transocean accused of improper training, subpar maintenance in Gulf spill
Information about close calls on other rigs wasn't passed along, a lawyer said, adding that just a month before the April 2010 accident, the Transocean crew on the Deepwater Horizon failed to catch a sudden surge of natural gas from the well they were drilling, indicating the company had "a chronic problem."
Magellan to buy refined product pipelines of Plains in Rocky Mountain region
The assets to be sold from Plains include a pipeline system that delivers refined products throughout Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado and associated tankage, as well as a pipeline system that delivers refined products from El Paso, Texas, to Albuquerque, N.M., and Juarez, Mexico.
C3 Petrochemicals plans new Texas PDH plant
If the application is approved, C3 Petrochemicals will build a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant near Alvin, Texas, to produce polymer- and chemical-grade propylene.
BP may receive $16 billion offer from US to settle Gulf oil spill civil claims
The settlement offer would cover potential fines owed by BP under the Clean Water Act and payments under another process known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. The fines stem from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that ensued from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout in April 2010.
- XRG to expand its global chemicals reach with takeover of Covestro 11/21
- U.S. FERC explores blanket authorizations for LNG projects 11/21
- thyssenkrupp Uhde selected by Dangote Fertilizer Ltd. to license four urea granulation units in Nigeria 11/21
- Indian and Chinese refineries are moving to comply with U.S. sanctions on Russia 11/21
- Dynamis Power Solutions awards Baker Hughes with significant order for gas turbine technology to support mobile power for oil and gas applications 11/21
- China's first coal-to-chemicals project with green hydrogen starts commercial operations 11/20
