Americas
Refining’s silver lining fades at Exxon, Chevron
Growing fuel inventories and weak demand are now hammering the refining industry, turning a typical advantage for integrated oil companies on its head.
Praxair to expand Louisiana carbon monoxide hub
The company will add a new, 13 million standard cubic feet/day carbon monoxide purification train at the site. Carbon monoxide is a raw material in the production of a range of specialty chemicals including those used to produce polyurethanes for the housing and auto industries.
Rare gasoline cargo heads from China to US
Asian gasoline stocks have risen sharply in recent months as traders and refiners betting on strong summer demand for the road fuel in China and other countries ramped up imports and production.
US refiner Marathon Petroleum sees lower profit on weak crack spreads
Refiners have seen their margins shrink due to the narrowing price difference between US crude and globally traded Brent futures, to which the price of refined products are tied.
PDVSA launches tenders as Venezuelan refineries face operating woes
While Amuay's fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) restarted on Monday, the 645,000-bpd refinery was operating at only around 360,000 bpd as its flexicoker remained down. Meanwhile, The adjacent 310,000 bpd Cardon facility was processing around 110,000 bpd.
Oil hits 2016 high as US gasoline margins soar
Crude markets got off to a rousing start in the New York session as gasoline futures and gasoline refinery margins both surged from refinery outages, Venezuela buying and a reported drop in inventories.
Phillips 66 shuts key crude unit at Illinois refinery after power outage
Phillips 66 shut down a 64,000-bpd crude unit and an associated vacuum distillation unit and coker at the Illinois refinery on Tuesday after heavy storms knocked out power to the western portion of the plant, a source familiar with the plant's operations said.
Lower US refining production adds to crude build
Refinery crude runs fell 257,000 bpd, EIA data showed, while US refinery utilization rates dropped 1.3 percentage points to 88.1% of capacity, according to the data.
US chemical activity index accelerates in April
The Chemical Activity Barometer has four primary components, each consisting of a variety of indicators: 1) production; 2) equity prices; 3) product prices; and 4) inventories and other indicators.
Brazilian fuel sales show year-on-year decline
C-grade gasoline sales rose to 23,440 bbl from 21,400 bbl in March 2015, while diesel sales fell to 29,840 bbl in March from 31,540 bbl a year earlier, according to petroleum regulator ANP.
- Brazil's Petrobras to invest $4.8 B in integration between Reduc refinery and Boaventura complex 7/8
- Braskem completes first sale of circular polyethylene in South America 7/8
- bp's 440,000-bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana (U.S.), reported flaring due to operational conditions 7/8
- UK's insolvent Lindsey oil refinery secures some crude supply to keep running for now 7/8
- Brazil's energy minister hints at possible fuel price cuts 7/8
- Marathon Galveston Bay refinery (U.S.) hydrotreater to remain shut until September 7/8
