Middle East
HP Viewpoint: Refiners have a new learning curve with shale oil
We’ve all heard the news reports: “Shale resource developments have the potential to make the US energy independent for the first time since 1952.” The long-term impact of shale resourc..
HP Engineering Case Histories: Case 71: Statistical visual data can be useful in troubleshooting—Part 2
In “Case 71: Statistical visual data can be useful in troubleshooting—Part 1,” the editorial focused on how taking data and analyzing it could determine the cause for high reject rates...
HP Brief: Brief
Galveston Bay refineryMarathon Petroleum has closed its transaction with BP to purchase several assets, including the 451,000-bpd refinery located in Texas City, Texas. The refinery will be renamed an..
HP Industry Perspectives: EU leans forward on clean-fuel strategies
In late January 2013, the European Commission (EC) announced ambitious measures to ensure the buildup and standardization of alternative fueling stations across Europe. Much of the earlier EC policy i..
QP, Shell award FEED to Fluor for Al-Karaana petrochemicals project
The scope being considered includes a world-scale steam cracker, with feedstock coming from natural gas projects in Qatar; a 1.5 million tpy mono-ethylene glycol plant using Shell’s proprietary OMEGA technology; a 300,000 tpy linear alpha olefins unit; and a 250,000 tpy oxo-alcohols unit.
UAE group signs land lease for LNG import terminal
Construction of the liquefied natural gas complex is expected to begin later this year. The local government of Fujairah, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, is also to reclaim land from the sea for the regasification facility, which will be capable of handling the largest LNG tankers.
UOP technology chosen for modernization project at top Kazakhstan refinery
The Pavlodar refinery (POCR) of KazMunaiGas will use a range of UOP processes and services to modernize its facility in Northeast Kazakhstan Province, allowing it to meet Euro-5 standards aimed at reducing motor vehicle pollution. Established in 1978, POCR is one of Kazakhstan's three oil refineries.
Fuel pipeline from key Iraq refinery under attack
The attack hit the pipeline carrying oil from the refinery in Baiji to Mosul in northern Iraq. It's the second attack on the pipeline in less than a week, forcing the country to ship fuel by road through the northern Ninava province. Ninava province gets all of its fuel from the damaged pipeline, which will take days to fix.
Foster Wheeler signs technology pact with Shell for global downstream work
Under this agreement, Shell may request Foster Wheeler to provide support in basic engineering packages for the following technologies: distillation, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, thermal conversion, ethylene oxide, pyrolysis gas, fluid catalytic cracking and CANSOLV sulfur dioxide scrubbing.
IEA lowers forecast for global oil demand growth, warns of China slowdown
In its closely-watched monthly report on the oil market, the watchdog agency cut its oil demand growth forecasts for the coming year by a marginal 90,000 bpd, but warned that recent signs of recovery in the global oil demand could be the result of one-off factors, rather than sustained improvement.

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