Crude oil
Marathon Oil boosting capital spending by $1 billion
Marathon Oil Corp. said Wednesday that it will increase its capital spending by $1 billion in 2012 as it moves to develop acreage in the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas. The firm plans to spend $4.82 billion on capital projects in 2012, up from its plan to spend $3.89 billion in 2011.
Toyo lands engineering design deal for Canada oil sands refinery project
Toyo has been awarded a contract by North West Redwater (NWR) to provide EDS (engineering design specification) work for a heavy oil upgrading and refining complex in Sturgeon County, Alberta. This complex will process bitumen extracted from oil sands producing naphtha, diesel oil and other petroleum products.
Iran says EU ban on crude imports to hurt Europe
Iran doesn't expect Europe to follow through on its threat to ban imports of oil from the Islamic republic because it would hurt the euro zone's energy security.
Sunoco idles key processing units at Pennsylvania refinery, cites weak market
US refiner Sunoco is indefinitely idling the main processing units at its refinery in Marcus Hook, Penn., citing deteriorating refining market conditions. The company said it also intends to increase the capacity utilization rate of its Philadelphia refinery and will continue to operate the refinery as long as market conditions warrant.
NPRA praises US transition to net fuels exporter
A new report that says growing US exports of petroleum fuels may enable the country to become a net exporter of refined petroleum products this year for the first time since 1949 is good news for the US, according to National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) president Charles T. Drevna.
ConocoPhillips finishes Illinois refinery expansion
ConocoPhillips said the expansion project at its joint-venture Wood River refinery in Roxana, Illinois, has been completed following the successful start of a new coker unit. The Wood River Refinery is jointly owned by ConocoPhillips and Cenovus Energy and is operated by ConocoPhillips.
EU imposes new Iran sanctions, but no oil embargo
European Union foreign ministers agreed Thursday to impose new sanctions on additional Iranian entities, but a French proposal for a blanket embargo on Iranian oil exports met significant resistance. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said an oil embargo was still "being debated" and diplomats said some restrictions on Iran oil imports were likely to be imposed in the coming months.
Neste Oil, Bapco start up base oil plant in Bahrain
Neste Oil, The Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco), and nogaholding have officially opened their new joint base oil plant in Bahrain. The plant has a capacity of 400,000 tpy and is located at Bapco's refinery on Bahrain's east coast.
Norway agency sees "very serious shortcomings" in BP safety
BP’s efforts to monitor and respond to sudden pollution releases such as oil spills in the Norwegian Sea suffer from "very serious shortcomings" that demand immediate improvement, Norwegian regulators said. The report is the latest indication of health and safety issues at BP, which was plagued by a massive oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and by numerous other accidents in recent years.
ConocoPhillips looking to sell Alliance refinery in Louisiana - report
ConocoPhillips is seeking buyers for its Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, La., Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the company's plans. The refinery has 247,000 bpd of capacity, making it the 20th largest in the US, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
- 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
