Americas
Explosion at Amuay refinery in Venezuela kills 41; fire still burning
Crews battling the fire, which broke out early Saturday following a likely gas leak explosion that killed 41 people and injured over 80 more, were dealt a setback by shifting winds overnight. The government has a stance that the plant could resume operations in just a couple days.
Olin buys caustic soda group KA Steel Chemicals
KA Steel, headquartered in Lemont, Illinois, is one of the largest distributors of caustic soda in North America and one of the leading bleach manufacturers in the Midwest. The purchase price for Olin was $328 million.
Iracore to supply lined pipe, fittings to Shell Canada for Alberta oil sands use
The agreement covers three years and provides Shell access to a number of Iracore’s proprietary products and services for use at the Muskeg River and Jackpine oil sands mining projects. Iracore has provided lined pipe solutions to major oil sands mine developers in northern Alberta for over a decade.
Sempra opens new underground gas storage facility in US
Sempra US Gas & Power LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, will commence operations at a second underground natural gas storage facility in Simpson County, Mississippi. The capacity addition of 7.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) increases the storage cavern's total storage capacity to 15 Bcf.
US company announces first CNG delivery contracts
Compressed natural gas (CNG) trucking and delivery firm NG Advantage LLC today announced that it has secured multi-year contracts for delivery of CNG, starting in early 2013. NG Advantage believes this is the first announcement of contracts for CNG delivered to enterprises beyond the pipeline in the US.
US chemical production flat, trending downward
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the US Chemical Production Regional Index (US CPRI) slipped by 0.1% in July, following flat growth in June.
ConocoPhillips: Four workers injured in Wyoming gas processing plant fire
The fire extinguished itself immediately and the four contract employees have been transported to receive medical attention, according to a statement. The maintenance operation has been suspended.
Petrobras picks Foster Wheeler for engineering on Brazil gas-to-chemicals project
Foster Wheeler will act as integrator for the entire complex. The project is expected to produce in excess of 1 million tpy of ammonia and urea fertilizers, methanol, acetic acid, plus formic acid and melamine, helping to reduce Brazil's imports of these products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Flint Hills plans Corpus refinery upgrade in Texas
Flint Hills says Corpus Christi is the most advantaged location to process new supply. "To be able to process more Texas crude, we need new processing capabilities," said refining manager Phil Gaarder.
Kinder Morgan to supply Phillips 66 Texas refinery with Eagle Ford shale crude
Kinder Morgan will provide Phillips 66 with a significant portion of the lateral pipeline's initial 30,000 bpd of capacity, which is expandable to 100,000 bpd. Pending receipt of environmental and regulatory approvals, construction is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.
- 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
- EIL signs MoU with Aramco Asia India Pvt. Ltd. for cooperation in various oil/gas activities 11/21
