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Americas

Mexico's Pemex fined $20 MM for anti-competitive fuel practices

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexico's antitrust watchdog has fined a division of state-owned oil company Pemex for failing to establish a competitive fuel market, the agency said on Monday.

GE wins US antitrust approval for Baker Hughes deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — General Electric Co won US antitrust approval to merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes Inc to form a new publicly traded company, the Justice Department said on Monday.

IHS Markit: Methanol demand growth driven by methanol-to-olefins, China demand

HOUSTON — Methanol, a basic chemical used to produce fuels and other traditional chemicals, is increasingly used in China to produce olefins in a process called methanol-to-olefins (MTO). By 2021, nearly one in five tons of global methanol production will be utilized for MTO production to satisfy expanding Chinese chemical demand, according to new analysis from IHS Markit.

Judge throws out fines against Tesoro for deadly refinery blast

HOUSTON (Reuters) — A Washington state administrative judge threw out $2.4 MM in fines levied against refiner Tesoro Corp for a 2010 explosion that claimed the lives of seven workers at the company's Anacortes, Washington, refinery.

Monroe Energy: BP violated contract when it blended Texas crude

NEW YORK (Reuters) — BP PLC violated its supply contract when it sold oil to refiner Monroe Energy that was a blend of lower-valued Texas crude with premium varieties, Monroe alleged in a federal court filing last week.

MCAA Market Forecast projects instrumentation, automation industry to be $14 B by 2021

POQUOSON, VA — The 2016 Process Instrumentation and Automation market in the United States, valued at $11.7 B, is projected to grow 3.6% by 2021 to a total of $14 B.

Honeywell to acquire industrial cyber security software leader Nextnine

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. — Honeywell announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Nextnine, a privately held provider of security management solutions and technologies for industrial cyber security.

EIA: Reporting oil companies’ proved reserves in 2016 decline for second consecutive year

Annual reports of 68 publicly traded oil companies indicated that their aggregate proved liquids reserves declined in 2016 for the second consecutive year.

Weir acquires oil and gas technology provider KOP Surface Products

The Weir Group PLC has entered into an agreement to acquire KOP Surface Products, a provider of advanced surface pressure control technologies, systems and services for the oil and gas industry for $114 MM in cash. KOP’s history stretches back to 1934 and it has market positions in Asia, with an emerging business in the Middle East. The business is being acquired from Akastor ASA, a Norwegian-listed investor in oilfield services.

Accenture research: Refiners set to increase spending on digital technologies

NEW YORK — Nearly two-thirds of refiners plan to increase their investments in digital technologies over the next three to five years, although digital is not one of the top plant investment areas for refiners today, according to new research from Accenture.