Americas
Chevron committed to staying in Brazil despite spill
Chevron is "committed" to stay in Brazil for the long term and hopes to "move ahead" after an oil spill in early November that led to intense scrutiny of the oil company from local authorities and regulators. Chevron says it is very proud of its response on the Nov. 7 oil spill because the company's sweeping reaction resulted in no environmental impact from the spill.
Chevron Phillips Chemical plans new Texas ethane cracker for 2017
The company will build a world-scale cracker at its existing Cedar Bayou complex as well as two nearby polyethylene units.
Linde to build air separation plant in Arkansas
Linde says it will build a new air separation plant in Lewisville, Arkansas. The new 470 ton-per-day plant will produce liquid nitrogen and oxygen to meet rapidly growing demand in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, according to the company.
BP oil spill report calls for single policing agency
A single governmental agency should be used to insure offshore drilling safety in order to avoid disasters like the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, a national research group said Wednesday. The recommendation could end up flying in the face of what the industry thinks it needs to regulate itself, though officials from the American Petroleum Institute had yet to comment directly on the suggestion.
US shale resources likely to spark manufacturing renaissance through 2025 - PwC
The abundance of shale gas resources could lead a US manufacturing renaissance with economic benefits that include cost savings, greater investments to expand manufacturing facilities and increased levels of employment, according to a new report.
IEA trims 2012 world oil demand growth forecast on economic woes
The International Energy Agency on Tuesday trimmed its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2012 versus its earlier 2012 projection based on the worsening global economic backdrop and persistently elevated oil prices, but said demand will remain robust and markets tight until 2013. The IEA forecast global oil demand at 90.3 million bpd in 2012, up from 89 million bpd this year.
Global refinery runs to rise in first quarter - IEA
Refinery runs across the globe will bounce back in the coming months as refineries return from heavy autumn maintenance and ramp up production even as profits on oil products fall, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday in a monthly report. Refinery runs will rebound to 75.8 million bpd, or 1.2 million bpd higher than the year-earlier quarter, after relatively weak growth since April.
US chemical group sees slow 2012 improvement, led by shale gas
Despite a slowdown in the US economic recovery, the outlook for the nation’s chemicals manufacturing industry is more encouraging, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) 2011 Year-End Situation and Outlook. The key to the domestic chemical industry’s recovery is access to vast, new supplies of natural gas from previously untapped shale deposits, the council says.
Formosa Petrochemical, CPC in supply deal talks
CPC Corp. is in talks to procure base petrochemicals, such as propylene and ethylene, from Formosa Petrochemical to ensure future supply as a CPC 23-million metric ton-a-year naphtha cracker is set to close in the first quarter for a year-long capacity upgrade, senior executives from the companies said Monday.
Refining estimates lowered in Q4 for oil majors
Morgan Stanley has lowered by 7% its refining estimates for major oil refineries in the fourth quarter of 2011, the company said in a note Monday. Factors included a narrowing spread between Nymex crude and Light Louisiana Sweet crude.
- INEOS receives €300-million grant to rejuvenate and decarbonize its Lavera plant 2/19
- AGC Vinythai commissions expanded chlor-alkali plant and e-BiTAC electrolyzers from thyssenkrupp nucera 2/19
- BASF launches AdBlue GE (green electricity) to decarbonize mobility value chain 2/19
- Carbon Neutral Fuels select Johnson Matthey, bp and Honeywell UOP technologies for UK SAF plant 2/19
- ExxonMobil starts operations on second carbon capture project in Louisiana (U.S.) 2/19
- Pall introduces two new technologies to reduce CAPEX and TCO in oil and gas processing 2/19
