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Refining

Canadian Prime Minister Harper takes Keystone XL lobbying campaign to US

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."

Brazil environment leaders join Petrobras to appeal refinery work stoppage

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.

HollyFrontier reports unplanned outages at Kansas, Wyoming refineries

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

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.

Iraq halts northern oil exports after pipeline attack

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.

Brazil suspends Petrobras environmental licenses for Comperj refinery

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.

Sunoco Logistics acquires Marcus Hook refinery

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.

Canada's Enerkem to develop waste-to-biofuels catalytic processes

HP Editorial Staff: HP News

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.

Phillips 66 restarts Sweeny refinery after power cut

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.

Saudi Aramco, Exxon bring new clean fuels project online at Yanbu refinery

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.