For upstream news, please visit www.worldoil.com

Latest News

  • US approves Freeport LNG export application May 17, 2013

    Subject to environmental review and final regulatory approval, the facility is conditionally authorized to export at a rate of up to 1.4 Bcfd for a period of 20 years. The Department granted the first authorization to export LNG to non-FTA countries in May 2011 for the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Louisiana.

  • Canadian Prime Minister Harper takes Keystone XL lobbying campaign to US May 17, 2013

    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."

  • New China protests erupt over petrochemical plant May 17, 2013

    Protests against a planned oil refinery and petrochemicals facility broke out in southwest China for the second time this month, as pressure mounted on local leaders over environmental impact of the project.

  • Shell declares force majeure on natural gas supplies to Nigeria LNG May 17, 2013

    Shell's Nigerian unit, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) declared force majeure on gas supplies to Nigeria LNG Ltd. (NLNG) following a reported gas leak on one of its pipelines, SPDC said.

  • Carbon capture technology becoming cost effective May 16, 2013

    The Cost Reduction Task Force, which authored the report, found that carbon capture and storage technology could be a viable option for the UK government in meeting its carbon reduction targets. The report estimated that CCS technology could soon generate electricity at a breakeven cost.

  • Brazil environment leaders join Petrobras to appeal refinery work stoppage May 16, 2013

    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.

  • Pemex to triple US gas imports with new pipeline May 16, 2013

    The gas supply problem is expected to be alleviated with the Los Ramones project, a pipeline that will carry gas from southern Texas to the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, which is a hub for the Mexican auto industry. Pemex plans to release bidding rules next week for the longest part of the pipeline.

  • HollyFrontier reports unplanned outages at Kansas, Wyoming refineries May 16, 2013

    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.

  • Total acquires Shell fuel retail network in Egypt May 16, 2013

    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.

  • UOP to provide technology for Ascend on-purpose propylene project in Texas May 16, 2013

    The Ascend propane hydrogenation (PDH) project will be located at a site near Houston, according to regulatory filings. This marks the 14th Oleflex project that UOP has announced since the beginning of 2011, and the company's seventh Oleflex project in North America since the technology was developed.

  • GTC Technology launches India engineering office May 15, 2013

    The new office will offer process licensing for India's refining and petrochemical sectors, and be GTC's center for engineering/procurement/construction management and a regional site for the company's energy services and process equipment business units. Investment terms were not disclosed.

  • BG Group to focus on LNG in streamlined portfolio May 15, 2013

    The company is seeking to lure investors back. In recent months, BG Group has fallen out of favor with investors and analysts following a write down on the value of its US natural gas assets, big cost overruns at a key LNG project in Australia and downgrades to its production forecasts.

  • Brazil suspends Petrobras environmental licenses for Comperj refinery May 15, 2013

    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.

  • Celanese partners with Mitsui on new methanol plant near Houston May 15, 2013

    US-based Celanese struck a deal with Japan's Mitsui & Co. to build a new methanol production unit at Celanese's integrated chemicals complex in Clear Lake, Texas.

  • Iraq halts northern oil exports after pipeline attack May 15, 2013

    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.

  • PetroChina withdraws bid for Australian coal-bed methane gas producer May 15, 2013

    PetroChina withdrew a bid for an Australian coal bed methane gas producer, but will continue to invest in other Australia projects because of their commercial value and importance for energy security.

  • Marathon cleans up diesel spill at Indiana pipeline May 14, 2013

    Cleanup is currently under way in Indianapolis after about 500 bbl of diesel fuel leaked there from a Marathon Petroleum pipeline last week. The "vast majority" of product has been recovered, and the affected section of pipe has been cut out and sent for testing.

  • Canada's Enerkem to develop waste-to-biofuels catalytic processes May 14, 2013

    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.

  • Sunoco Logistics acquires Marcus Hook refinery May 14, 2013

    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.

  • Texas, California top US states for CO2 emissions from energy industry May 14, 2013

    Nearly half of the Lone Star State's 663 million metric tons of CO2 emissions came from petroleum fuels in 2010, according to a Energy Information Administration report. Coal and natural gas use and operations in the state contributed roughly a quarter each of the rest.

  • Indonesia to seek higher price from China for LNG May 13, 2013

    Under the existing contract, Indonesia can renegotiate the price when oil prices shoot up. The price of oil strongly correlates with the price of natural gas and LNG. The current contract, signed in 2006, uses a formula which assumes an oil price cap of $38/bbl, resulting in a selling price of $3.45/MMBtu.

  • Saudi Aramco, Exxon bring new clean fuels project online at Yanbu refinery May 13, 2013

    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.

  • Phillips 66 restarts Sweeny refinery after power cut May 13, 2013

    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.

  • US decision on Keystone XL appears unlikely for several months May 13, 2013

    The Obama administration is unlikely to make a decision until late this year as it painstakingly weighs the project's impact on the environment and on energy security. The decision may not be made until November, December or even early 2014, said the unidentified US official.

  • Citgo shuts down unit at Corpus Christi refinery after leak allows water in May 12, 2013

    Citgo Petroleum shut down part of the western plant of its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, according to a government filing made public. The Corpus Christi refinery can process up to 165,000 bpd into gasoline, diesel and petrochemicals, according to Citgo's website.


1 2 

FEATURED EVENT

Boxscore Database

A searchable database of project activity in the global hydrocarbon processing industry

Poll

Compared to the rest of the world, how long will the US hold its "ethane advantage" of cheap petrochemical feedstock?


28%

53%

19%




View previous results

Popular Searches


Please read our Term and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws.
© 2011 Hydrocarbon Processing. © 2011 Gulf Publishing Company.