Americas
California safety board fines Chevron $1 million for Richmond refinery fire
The Richmond refinery fire in August lasted for hours, sending plumes of black smoke over the San Francisco Bay and causing an estimated 15,000 local residents to visit emergency rooms. An investigation into the fire is ongoing but so far has focused on a corroded pipe leading from the main CDU.
Williams picks Fluor for propane dehydrogenation project work in Canada
The proposed PDH facility would primarily use the propane recovered at Williams’ existing fractionation facility in Redwater, Alberta, and convert it into polymer-grade propylene, a petrochemical feedstock used in plastics manufacturing. Financial details were not disclosed.
EPA proposes near 9% increase in 2013 for US renewable fuels mandate
The agency said it intended to require US refiners and fuel importers to use a total of 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuel during 2013, compared to 15.2 billion gallons last year. As in previous years, the lion's share of that mandate is expected to be met with ethanol made from Midwestern corn.
Marathon plans new name, upgrade for BP Texas City refinery
Marathon Petroleum, which officially completes its acquisition of the 415,000 bpd complex on Friday, has begun referring to the Gulf Coast site as the Galveston Bay refinery.
Technip wins engineering for Westlake ethylene expansion in Kentucky
The ethylene production capacity will be increased by 40%, the companies said Tuesday, rising from 450 million lb/year to 630 million lb/year. It will use ethane feedstock instead of propane, as per the original design. Technip's operating center in Claremont, California, will execute the work.
BP names new head of safety, operational risk
Bob Fryar, who is executive vice president for production in BP's upstream business, will take up his new position from Feb. 15. The role includes oversight for security. He will take over from Mark Bly, who has headed BP's safety functions since March 2008 and who plans to retire from BP in the summer.
Idemitsu partners with AltaGas to export LNG, LPG from Canada to Japan
Under the 50:50 plan by oil refiner Idemitsu and gas pipeline operator AltaGas, the two may build an LNG export terminal near Kitimat in British Columbia, possibly starting LNG exports mainly to Japan as early as 2017. The venture also plans to develop a liquefied petroleum gas export business.
Repsol likely to sell global LNG assets to Shell
Repsol was initially looking to raise some €3 billion via the sale, but the final figure could be much lower, in the ballpark of €2 billion. The LNG assets are located in Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Spain.
Valero exploring use of rail to move Canadian crude oil to US Gulf refineries
Valero already has expanded greatly how much oil from Texas and North Dakota its Gulf Coast refineries use. The San Antonio, Texas, company, the world's largest independent refiner, now is looking into using rail cars to bring Western Canadian oil to the Gulf Coast, home to about two-thirds of its refining capacity.
Hess to sell terminals, close New Jersey refinery
Hess no longer considers the terminal network -- which includes 19 terminals along the East Coast and which had been a main outlet for production for its Hovensa joint venture with PdVSA -- as central to its operations. Hess's St. Lucia terminal in the Caribbean also will be in the group offered for sale.
- 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
- Lukoil trading arm shrinks fast under Western sanctions 11/21
