Refining
Petrovietnam to provide Ecuador with diesel oil
Petrovietam won a contract to supply Ecuador with 2.16 million bbl of diesel oil, state-run company Petroecuador confirmed. Nine cargoes of 240,000 bbl each are scheduled to arrive next month.
DuPont seeks joint ventures on cellulosic ethanol
Chemical giant DuPont is seeking partners for joint ventures in the production of cellulosic ethanol as well as licensing related technology. Licensing agreements would include equipment and DuPont's plant design, and DuPont says it would supply the enzymes needed to produce the fuel.
US monthly oil demand plummets to 16-year low as gasoline use drops
Demand for gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product in the world's biggest oil consumer, fell 1.9% from a year earlier to a 12-year June low of 8.865 million bpd, according to the API. Second-quarter gasoline use was 2% lower than in the same period in 2012, at 8.775 million bpd.
Asian diesel exports to Latin America likely to slow amid new refineries
"Upcoming refinery additions will reduce the region's distillate import requirement," ESAI Energy said in a statement this week. "Crude distillation unit, or CDU, capacity additions of 550,000 barrels a day in the region between 2014 and 2016 will offset higher demand," ESAI said.
KBR to install de-asphalting technology at Total refinery near Antwerp
The ROSE technology will split 48,000 bpd of residue from a mix of crude oils into deasphalted oil and asphaltene. The DAO will be upgraded in a mild hydrocracking unit and the asphaltene will be blended into fuel oil. The ROSE unit is expected to significantly enhance the refinery's profitability.
Linde, Sapphire Energy to develop algae-to-crude process technology
Together, the companies will refine the hydrothermal treatment process developed and operated today by Sapphire Energy at pilot scale. In addition, they will jointly license and market the technology into an expanded list of industries, including algae, municipal solid waste and farm waste.
Refinery watch: Planned and unplanned US outages (1)
BP-Husky started planned work at the smaller of two coker units at its Toledo Refinery, located in Oregon, Ohio, on July 8. It wasn't immediately known how long it will take to overhaul the 7,500-bpd unit. Valero Energy Corp. on July 9 reported another upset at FCCU 1241 at its Port Arthur refinery.
Valero to build major methanol plant adjacent to Louisiana refinery
Construction at Valero's refinery in St. Charles, La., is initially scheduled to end by the 2016 first quarter and will expand the plant to make 1.6 million tpy of methanol. Production would start soon after.
Peru eases environmental standards after refiners express concerns
The Environment Ministry issued a resolution this weekend that exempts the cities of Ilo, La Oroya and Arequipa from tougher environmental standards aimed at lowering levels of sulfur-dioxide emissions.
Sinopec opens new lubricants plant in Singapore
The company has officially commenced operations at its new, 100,000 tpy lubricant facility in Singapore. The plant is Sinopec's first direct overseas investment.
- Argentina raises biofuel prices for domestic market 7/14
- Technip Energies' develops low-emission furnace design to reduce the carbon footprint of ethylene production 7/14
- Biofuel demand to soak up more than half of U.S. soyoil production next year, USDA says 7/14
- Russia's June seaborne oil product exports down 3.4% m/m 7/14
- Serbia seeks fifth U.S. sanctions waiver for Russian-owned oil firm NIS 7/14
- EIA: U.S. hydrocarbon production supported by export growth in long-term projections 7/14
