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Egypt is still talking with some Arab oil and gas producers to secure fuel supplies to ease its shortages. The negotiations with Qatar, Iraq, and Libya, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are still ongoing in order to secure the best formula to serve the interest of Egypt.
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Gains in demand for distillate fuel [diesel/heating oil] and catch-all other oils, which include feedstocks for petrochemical plants, offset the fall in gasoline use to nudge total demand higher.
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Valero plans to invest between $106 million and $192 million to overhaul its handling capacity at the Quebec refinery, including increased tankage and new crude carrying ships, in order to increase access to North American crude. That will provide it with a competitive advantage.
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The likely deal with China Development Bank will be supported by an agreement to supply fuel products from Essar's refinery to PetroChina. Essar group said it has been in discussions with several international banks, including Chinese banks, to replace its local debt.
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The Whitetail refinery site was chosen to take advantage of production from the nearby Eagle Ford Shale play, according to WEC officials. This is the first of several planned operations by WEC in the region.
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A consortium comprised of Itochu and foreign firms won an order from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic to build Turkey's largest oil refinery in the western city of Izmir. Other members of the consortium are Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem and GS Engineering and Construction.
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Russia's slowing domestic economy is leading to a flood of Russian diesel exports flowing toward Europe, which could soon force a new round of European refinery closures.
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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper took his case for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to the United States, burnishing Canada's environmental credentials and saying the arguments for the project are "overwhelmingly on the side of approval."
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Petrobras was informed that a federal judge suspended environmental licenses granted by INEA for the refinery under construction in Rio de Janeiro state. The judge ruled that IBAMA had jurisdiction over licensing the project, forcing a halt in construction until IBAMA issued new licenses.
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HollyFrontier disclosed that unplanned outages at two of its refineries will reduce its crude throughput in the 2Q by about 7.5% from what it had been expecting. HollyFrontier spokeswoman Julia Heidenreich said the company felt the event was material and should be reported to shareholders.
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Gasoline retail activities have decreased in Western Europe, on the back of lower consumption due to the prolonged economic crisis. Lower cost retailers have also emerged, forcing some major companies to rethink their refining and marketing strategy and focus instead on oil exploration and production.
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Petrobras says it is evaluating all possible measures related to the halt, which would stop work on one of the company's largest projects. The Comperj refinery will have installed capacity to process 165,000 bpd of crude oil when it enters operation in April 2015, with a second phase coming by 2018.
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Exports of crude oil from northern Iraq have been suspended after a new bomb attack against a key pipeline, a Middle East shipping agent said. The attack took place at the north of the al-Shurgat area north of Baiji, some 200 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad.
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Enerkem is working on a new research project with the Canadian government to develop new catalytic processes for the conversion of waste into "drop-in" biofuels.
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Sunoco Logistics Partners has announced the acquisition of the Marcus Hook refinery, located on the banks of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, for $60 million. The 780-acre Marcus Hook refinery was owned by Sunoco Logistics' former parent company, Sunoco.
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During maintenance, which started in March, SAMREF boosted the reliability of the fluid catalytic cracker, which helps turn crude oil into gasoline, and upgraded the refinery to produce cleaner fuels.
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The power failure was triggered by a larger outage in Texas and New Mexico, Phillips 66 said in its filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Units affected included the 25.2 crude distillation unit, one of the first steps in the oil refining process, and the 27.1 fluid catalytic cracking unit.
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The pipeline wasn't flowing at the time of the leak due to a lull in market demand, Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard said, but it was still pressurized with diesel in it. The company believes the leak occurred slowly over time and wasn't due to a sudden break or external forces.
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The EPA gave the US State Department's review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline a 'C' grade, adding that there is "ample time and ability" to upgrade the analysis.
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Spot gasoline pricing premiums moved up sharply in West Coast refined products markets as another regional refinery experiences production problems. Shell reported a unit shutdown at its San Francisco area refinery in Martinez, after discovering a valve leak.
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KBR will conduct services as the general contractor to perform regulatory maintenance, mechanical fixed equipment, piping systems, electrical and instrumentation services for the pygas unit, as well as all aspects of event management, project controls and subcontractor management.
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The MOL Group executive, who delivered a keynote address at the AspenTech users group conference, said he would not be surprised if 30% of Europe’s refineries were shuttered due to financial woes.
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Alon said a malfunction of a sulfur recovery unit at its refinery in Big Springs, Texas, resulted in reduced charge rates at several processing units to minimize emissions. A sour water stripper was taken out of service and steam was vented as necessary to safety flare devices, according to the company.
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The company estimated the Cheecham project would cost about $300 million. It will include two new 450,000-bbl blend tanks and convert an existing tank from blend to diluent service. Enbridge will also install receipt and distribution manifolds to facilitate transfers to Enbridge's Waupisoo pipeline.
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CEO Greg Garland said the EPA's proposal to require refiners to add more ethanol to the fuel, coupled with flat or declining US gasoline demand, means the industry as a whole is likely to hit the so-called blend wall by 2014, a point after which refiners say more ethanol can't be added to fuel supply.