Americas
Alberta to review pipeline safety after recent spills
Mr. Hughes requested that Alberta's energy regulator, the Energy Resources Conservation Board, work with an independent third party to review pipeline safety and accident response, according to a government statement. Alberta is the largest oil-and-gas-producing province in Canada.
Williams to explore building Canada's first propane dehydrogenation plant
A new PDH facility, which would be the first in Canada, would allow Williams to significantly increase its production of polymer-grade propylene (PGP) from Canadian operations. Williams is the only company in Canada producing PGP, a petrochemical feedstock used in plastics manufacturing.
US appeals court upholds EPA sulfur dioxide rules
The rule had been challenged by the National Environmental Development Association's Clean Air Project, a trade group representing ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, General Electric and several other major companies. Meanwhile, environmental groups had joined the EPA in defending the rule.
PdVSA awards Venezuela refinery expansion work to Foster Wheeler, Toyo
Foster Wheeler will execute the project in consortium with Toyo Engineering Corp. from Japan and Y & V Ingeniería y Construcción from Venezuela. The consortium previously completed the front-end engineering design for the project. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
PPG, Georgia Gulf merge commodity chemical units
Following completion of the deal, which is expected to occur in late 2012 or early 2013, the combined company is expected to have annual revenues of approximately $5 billion and be the third-largest chlor-alkali producer and second-largest vinyl chloride monomer producer in North America.
Pemex awards reliability system work to Penspen
Under the terms of the agreement, Penspen says it and other groups will assist in the development of a plan for managing the integrity and reliability of transmission pipelines, gathering pipelines, onshore pipelines, offshore pipelines, storage terminals and maritime terminals.
US court upholds air quality rule against oil lawsuit
Tuesday's ruling from the US Court of Appeals marks a win for the Obama administration and environmental groups that supported the two-year-old standards for nitrogen dioxide, or NO2. The API claimed the rule was illegal because it went beyond what was needed to protect public health.
Codexis eyes biofuel technology license from Shell
Under the agreement, Shell has agreed to negotiate exclusively with Codexis through September 1 on the terms of a new agreement under which Shell would grant certain rights and licenses in the biofuels field to develop and sell cellulase enzymes to third parties on a worldwide basis, except Brazil.
Solvay commissions new methane recovery facility at US trona mine
The methane recovery system (MaRS) captures methane liberated during the mining process that would otherwise be vented directly into the atmosphere and instead directs it to either be incinerated, or piped to the trona processing facility to recover the thermal energy via combustion.
Buffett firm cuts Conoco stake, buys into Phillips 66
The Houston-based refiner finds itself in a current upswing in the refining space as low natural gas prices help keep costs lower to run hydrocrackers that make gasoline. Average second-quarter refining margins for refiners improved by nearly $6/bbl above the first quarter.
- Indonesia's Pertamina to merge refinery, shipping and retail operations 9/12
- BlackRock-led group in talks to raise around $10.3 billion for Aramco deal 9/12
- ABS approves blue ammonia FPSO concept from SBM Offshore 9/12
- Pakistan's top refiner Cnergyico to boost fuel oil exports as domestic sales plummet 9/12
- E20 fuel safe but curbs vehicle performance, Mahindra executive says 9/12
- Canada may drop oil emissions cap as part of new climate plan 9/12
