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Americas

US Energy Secretary believes oil supply and demand should be in balance by 2017

The global oil market should see supply and demand in balance by 2017 though it will remain structurally well-supplied for the next couple of years, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.

Refining: Refinery investments focus on ultra-low-sulfur gasoline

Contributing Writer: Nogarin, M.

Mexican oil company Pemex recently announced major refinery improvement projects that will represent a total investment of $23 B over the next three years.

Industry Metrics

US refinery utilization rates have increased in some areas following the peak of maintenance season.

Secure the best benefits from C4 hydrocarbon processing—Part 1: Separation sequences

thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG: Streich, T.  |  Kömpel, H.  |  Geng, J.  |  Renger, M.

Crude C<sub>4</sub> streams from the steam cracker unit or the fluidized catalytic cracker unit contain valuable hydrocarbons, such as butadiene and C<sub>4</sub> olefins.

Global Project Data

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

According to <i>Hydrocarbon Processing’s </i> Construction Boxscore Database, there were nearly 90 new project announcements from January 2015 to June 2015.

A new solution to the challenges of crude selection and scheduling

The state-of-the-art approach to solving the crude selection and scheduling problem is to separate the two challenges.

EIA: China diesel exports grow as refining industry, economy change

China is reforming its refining sector by liberalizing import and export restrictions on crude oil and petroleum products, allowing for increased competition in the domestic transportation fuels market.

GlobalData: Planned projects poised to raise global propylene capacity levels

China and the US are the primary drivers for expanded global capacity that is estimated to increase to almost 130 MMtpy by 2020.

New US PE capacity to help meet rising LatAm demand

Latin America's demand for polyethylene is expanding, but the region's existing and planned PE capacity is expected to fall short of demand.

Marathon lays off 46 employees at Galveston Bay refinery

While the company seeks better efficiencies and cost-saving strategies, no announcements of reductions have been made at Marathon's other six refineries.