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Crude oil

Lyondell begins shuttering Houston refinery (U.S.) for permanent closure

Chemicals maker LyondellBasell Industries began shuttering its 263,776-bpd Houston refinery on Monday for permanent closure. The shutdown is expected to be completed by early February.

Motiva shuts FCC, alkylation units at its Port Arthur, Texas (U.S.) refinery

Motiva Enterprises completed shutting the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker-3 (FCC-3) and the alkylation units at its 626,000-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Tuesday for planned work, said people familiar with operations.

Russia oil sanctions create different winners at different times

The crude oil market is adapting quickly to the new sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, albeit by creating both short- and medium-term winners and losers.

Update: U.S. crude stocks rise as refiners cut production amid winter storms

U.S. crude stocks rose last week as refinery utilization slipped, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday, as winter storms sweeping the country hit fuelmakers' operations and boosted distillates demand.

Russian oil refining rises as U.S. sanctions target crude

Russian refineries are processing more crude oil in the hope of boosting fuel exports after new U.S. sanctions on Russian tankers and traders made exports of unprocessed crude more difficult.

China 'teapot' refiners halt plants as new fuel tax

Several independent oil refineries in eastern China have halted operations, or plan to do so, for indefinite maintenance periods as new Chinese tariff and tax policies plunge them deeper into losses.

U.S. crude stockpiles hit near 3-yr low despite softer refinery demand

U.S. crude oil inventories slipped to their lowest level since March 2022 last week, even as refining activity fell sharply, cutting demand for crude.

India's BPCL sees March Russian oil intake down 20% as it awaits offers

India's state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. sees its Russian oil processing down to 20% in March from 31% this month as it awaits offers from traders.

Synthetic graphite demand drives attractive techno-economics for coker upgrades

Chevron Lummus Global: Manral, V.  |  Magdoza, K.  |  Antoniou, M.
Evalueserve: Suri, V.

This article describes the economic opportunity that synthetic graphite demand growth presents for American and European refiners. It describes the conditions that best suit a plant to be considered for such a revamp. The article also discusses the modifications needed in capital equipment, process conditions and feedstock to execute this change, the typical capital expenditure required to materialize it, and the transformational gross profit enhancements that could result from these modifications, given the product slate upgrade.  

China's crude oil imports may grow only 1% in 2025, CNPC says

China's crude oil imports will likely rise only 1% this year, and the country's reliance on oil imports is projected to remain at around 70% between 2026 and 2030.