Americas
Motiva inaugurates major Texas refinery expansion
Executives of the companies that jointly own Motiva - Peter Voser, CEO of Shell, and Khalid Al-Falih, CEO of Saudi Aramco - turned the ceremonial valve commemorating the start of oil flowing through new processing units at the complex. The expanded refinery can process a wider variety of crude oils.
Shell to expand Athabasca oil sands as CEO sees Canada output growing
Shell will expand its Athabasca oil sands project by a third by the end of the decade, and Canada will make up a larger share of Shell's energy production over that period, CEO Peter Voser said. That would bring the project, in which Shell owns 60%, to at least 335,000 bpd of production.
MRC Global inks distribution pact with Shell for valves, automation services
MRC Global, a distributor of pipe, valves and fittings to the energy industry, has signed a five-year global agreement with Shell for the distribution of valves and automation services. The agreement also covers carbon and stainless steel, stainless and alloy pipe, fittings and flanges.
Shale boom at risk over environment concerns
The IEA report shows how the shale gas industry, which has dramatically altered the US energy landscape, stands at a tipping point to determine how it spreads worldwide.
T. Boone Pickens finds flaws in US energy plans of Obama, Romney
The energy titan didn't endorse either presidential candidate, saying Obama's "all of the above" energy plan needed to be more specific and Romney's plan is "not total".
MarkWest Energy buys Keystone gas processing plants in Pennsylvania
The acquired Keystone assets are located in the Marcellus Shale region of Butler County, Pennsylvania, and include two cryogenic gas processing plants totaling 90 million cubic feet/day of processing capacity, a gas gathering system and associated field compression.
US plastic resin production, sales down from 2011
US production of major plastic resins totaled 6.1 billion pounds during April 2012, a decrease of 3.2% compared to the same month in 2011, according to new statistics released by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) trade group. Sales and captive use were down 8.8% from April 2011.
Gevo starts up commercial bio-based isobutanol plant in Minnesota
Next-generation biofuels company Gevo has successfully started up what it says is the world’s first commercial bio-based isobutanol production plant, located in Luverne, Minnesota. Gevo said it expects to reach full-capacity run rates by year-end 2013 after a run rate of 1 million gal/ month by late 2012.
EPA could double fraudulent US biofuel claims
Republicans say they have evidence the EPA may double the number of US biodiesel credits it has deemed fraudulent, raising the specter of more financial penalties for refiners.
Eastman Chemical wins EU approval for Solutia buy
The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of Solutia by Eastman Chemical, the competition watchdog group said. The merger is not expected to result in any substantial change in the markets concerned since Solutia is not a customer of Eastman in the EEA.
- IHI, Vopak to launch ammonia terminal project in Japan 7/11
- India's BPCL plans to shut Bina refinery unit for 15-day maintenance in August 7/11
- Soaring electric truck sales deal new blow to diesel use in China 7/11
- Russia`s Tatneft launches new hydrocracking unit on TANECO refinery 7/11
- IEA: Global oil market may be tighter than it looks 7/11
- India must boost its petchem output to counter China's dominance, Reliance says 7/11
