Engineering & Design
Fluor wins FEED work from BP, Shell for clean fuels project in South Africa
The project will enable a substantial upgrade of the SAPREF refinery, thereby improving the quality of transportation fuels by reducing levels of sulfur, benzene and aromatics and meeting enhanced legislative requirements. The deal allows for a possible EPCm contract to be signed at a later date.
Shell taps Jacobs to design Hong Kong project for transformer oil processing
Under terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing detailed design engineering services for modifications to Shell’s existing terminal facility to enable the processing of transformer oil. Shell's 47-acre Tsing Yi installation supplies Hong Kong and Macau with a range of oil, gas and chemical products.
KBR wins pipe fabrication work from Shell Canada for oil sands CO2 capture
KBR says it will support Shell’s effort to maximize off-site modularization for this project by providing pipe spool fabrication and module assembly for pipe, process, equipment and building modules. The scope also includes the fabrication of several unique and innovative vertical modules.
WR Grace buys Australian waterproofing company Chemind Construction
Chemind adds new waterproofing technology to Grace’s global construction products portfolio and establishes its first waterproofing R&D and manufacturing facility in Australia. The new site will make waterproofing materials for repair, maintenance and improvement markets and for new construction.
Shale energy resources driving resurgence for ethylene industry
The abundant supply of North American shale energy resources is proving to be not only a boon for exploration and production (E&P) companies and energy consumers, but it is also changing the profitabi..
North American olefin producers riding the shale gas wave
With the prospect of abundant low-cost ethane, several producers have announced intentions to build new ethylene capacity.
High-pressure polyethylene: Reemergence as a specialty chemical or not?
The analysis results indicate that, while investment capital for new plants favors LLDPE, plant profitability—which is a function of product slate (revenue) and cost—is, in many cases, higher for LDPE plants.
HPI Focus: New vs. debottlenecking projects
As most owners do not have adequately skilled engineering teams to study these scenarios, engaging an experienced, qualified engineering contractor to support the conceptual study is often warranted.
Evaluate challenges in meeting clean-fuel specifications with heavier crude
At a Saudi Aramco refinery, a revamp was planned for processing a different crude oil blend to meet Euro 5 diesel and gasoline specifications. The refinery, which processes semi-light crude oil, is sc..
Improve coker efficiency with reliable valve automation
The case history discusses conditions occurring in delayed coker operations at two refineries in Louisiana, the impacts on valve performance, and a solution that offers extended life, better reliability and other benefits.
- Veolia and SBM Offshore partner to deploy near-shore, floating desalination units 1/15
- Formosa Petrochemical extends Taiwan cracker shutdown due to weak derivative margins 1/15
- Cargill advances maritime Decarbonization with delivery of first green methanol dual-fuel vessel 1/15
- Key U.S. energy, power trends at home and on world markets 1/15
- U.S. to finalize 2026 biofuel quotas by early March, drop import penalties 1/15
- India's Nayara Energy buys only Russian oil in Dec for 5th straight month 1/15

