Americas
HollyFrontier CEO says US fuel markets are healthy
HollyFrontier expects to increase its refining rate by 3% in the second quarter after finishing refinery maintenance at the beginning the year. Despite forecasts of a lackluster fuel demand amid a sluggish economy, HollyFrontier has seen solid fuels sales in its home region, its CEO said.
Eastman finishes retrofit, startup of newly-acquired plasticizer plant in Texas
Eastman Chemical has completed the retrofit and startup of its non-phthalate plasticizer manufacturing facility in Texas City, Texas. Eastman, which purchased the former Sterling Chemicals plant in mid-2011, said further capacity additions were possible with minimal investment.
TransCanada resubmits Keystone XL application
TransCanada says it resubmitted an application for a US permit for its controversial Keystone XL oil-pipeline expansion, rejected by the White House earlier this year after it became a political flashpoint before this year's presidential election. The White House acknowledged receipt of the application.
Enterprise starts up gas processing plant in Texas for Eagle Ford shale
This facility has a design capacity of 300 million cubic feet/ day (MMcf/day) and can extract approximately 37,000 bpd of natural gas liquids (NGLs). Incoming natural gas volumes and recovery percentages at the facility will continue to increase throughout the month of May, with full output by June 1.
BASF to build formic acid plant at Louisiana facility
BASF announced Friday that it will build a new production plant for formic acid at its integrated Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana. The new 50,000 tpy plant is expected to start up in the second quarter of 2014. Investment terms for the project were not disclosed.
KBR wins construction deal for Canada shale gas processing project
KBR on Friday was awarded a general works contract for the construction of a 200 million standard cubic feet/day (SCFD) sweet natural gas processing plant near Fort St. John in Canada's British Columbia province. The project is aimed at monetizing recent shale gas discoveries.
Westlake Chemical withdraws bid for Georgia Gulf
Westlake Chemical said Friday that it is withdrawing its proposal to acquire US vinyls and aromatics company Georgia Gulf after failing to strike an agreeable deal. Westlake told Georgia Gulf that it does not intend to continue to pursue a deal. The proposal was first made in January.
Eastman picks Shaw for technology, engineering on Texas ethylene furnace
The Shaw Group was awarded a contract to provide proprietary technology and engineering services for a new ultra-selective conversion (USC) furnace for Eastman Chemical’s ethylene plant in Longview, Texas. A Shaw official attributed the rise in US business activity to recent developments in shale gas.
US likely to limit LNG exports to keep low gas price
The US government is likely to impose limits on exports of LNG in order to keep its natural gas prices low, said executives from two major oil firms. Several companies are planning to build plants that would convert some of this domestic surplus of gas into LNG that could be shipped internationally.
BASF acquires Brazil polyamide polymer business
BASF on Thursday struck a deal to buy the polyamide (PA) polymer business of Mazzaferro Group in Brazil. The deal includes the site and production facilities for the PA 6 product range, as well as engineering plastics compounds at São Bernardo do Campo in the metropolitan area of São Paulo.
- U.S. tariffs on Brazil are a bitter pill for sugar and ethanol makers 7/17
- India launches first hydrogen-powered passenger train 7/17
- U.S. refiner margins hit new records as fuel shortage concerns grow 7/17
- Indonesia president aims to increase sugarcane, bioethanol production 7/17
- Morgan Fuels & Lubes achieves approval under the renewable fuels assurance scheme 7/16
- JERA and Samsung C&T to strengthen supply security of hydrogen and ammonia value chains 7/16
