Environment & Safety
Severe jet fires and vapor explosions
Operators should consider alternative test procedures, capable of reproducing conditions found within jet fires.
Axens wins top France safety award for Salindres catalyst, adsorbent site
Axens is receiving a top annual safety award in the category of responsible care from the Union of the French Chemical Industries (UIC) for its Salindres plant in the Gard region. Axens will be presented with the award in Paris on Thursday, April 26, at the UIC general meeting.
Hess to spend $45 million on pollution controls at New Jersey refinery
Hess will pay an $850,000 civil penalty and install new pollution controls in a settlement to resolve US Clean Air Act violations at its 70,000 bpd refinery in Port Reading, N.J.
Halliburton files protest against BP spill settlement
Halliburton is objecting to BP’s proposed $7.8 billion settlement with individual plaintiffs for its involvement in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. The Houston-based company also contends BP's settlement would make Halliburton responsible for paying at least part of the settlement.
Former BP engineer faces first criminal charges in Deepwater Horizon case
Kurt Mix of Katy, Texas, is charged with two counts of obstructing justice for deleting from his iPhone hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a co-worker and a contractor.
EPA settles US biofuel violations with 30 companies
Thirty companies have agreed to pay what the EPA described as "modest" civil penalties for using fraudulent credits to meet a federal biofuel mandate. The settlement resolves violations of the Renewable Fuels Standard for companies such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
EPA delays new US 'fracking' rules until 2015
Wells where natural gas is captured through the controversial "fracking" technique will have until 2015 to comply with new rules designed to reduce air pollution. The EPA said it is phasing in the rules for "fracked" natural gas wells to "ensure emissions reduction technology is broadly available."
Siemens, Shell seal gas chromatography pact
Under the agreement, Siemens will supply gas chromatographs along with related systems such as analysis cabinets and shelters to numerous Shell global energy projects.
Airgas wins fleet safety award from US gas group
Airgas received a fleet safety award from the Compressed Gas Association (CGA), the US industrial and medical gas industry’s standard-setting organization for the promotion of safety standards and safe practices. It was the third straight year Airgas was presented with the award.
White House forms oversight panel for gas policy
The White House announced the formation of a high-level working group designed to coordinate the government's oversight of natural gas drilling and the much-scrutinized drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing. A recent boom in production has provided ample cheap natural gas in the US.
- CNOOC completes construction on $2.9-B, 1.8-MMtpy integrated complex in east China 8/22
- bp's Whiting refinery (U.S.) continues to flare days after severe thunderstorm 8/22
- Bachmann introduces latest version M-Target for Simulink 8/22
- U.S. to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait 8/22
- Chinese independent refiner Hongrun buys Canadian, Brazilian crude 8/22
- Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia 8/22
