Economics
LyondellBasell misses quarterly profit estimates on falling refining margins
Petrochemicals manufacturer LyondellBasell fell short of expectations for third-quarter profit on Friday due to declining refining margins and weakness in its chemicals segment.
ExxonMobil sells French Fos-sur-Mer refinery to Trafigura consortium
ExxonMobil's Esso division has completed the sale of the Fos-sur-Mer refinery - one of France's major refineries - and two other oil terminals to Trafigura consortium firm Rhone Energies.
Prompt engineering: Extracting operational excellence knowledge from AI—Part 2
Prompt engineering elaborates precise instructions to guide large language models towards generating specific, desired outputs, and offers significant potential for optimizing processes, solving complex problems and improving operational efficiency in refineries and petrochemical plants. In Part 2, the practical applications of these advanced prompt engineering techniques in various aspects of refinery operations will be explored. Examples include key areas where RAG implementation with specific plant information would be highly beneficial.
Cepsa becomes Moeve
Cepsa has announced its name change to Moeve, marking a historic milestone in the company’s transformation.
Refiner PBF Energy posts bigger-than-expected 3Q loss as margins collapse
PBF Energy posted a bigger-than-expected 3Q loss on Thursday as the U.S. refiner took a hit from weak fuel demand that shrunk refining margins.
Shell's $6-B profit smashes forecasts as LNG offsets weak refining
Shell reported on Thursday 3Q profits of $6 B that exceeded forecasts by 12% as higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales offset a sharp drop in oil refining and trading results.
Aramco, Petrovietnam sign Collaboration Framework Agreement for increased petrochemicals trade
The framework agreement signed by Aramco and Petrovietnam will explore opportunities for cooperation in storage and the supply and trading of energy and petrochemical products
TotalEnergies studies Moroccan project to export green ammonia to Europe
TotalEnergies will study plans for a renewable energy project to produce hydrogen and ammonia in Morocco for delivery to Europe, which is seeking to increase use of the fuels as part of its energy transition.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles hit 2-yr low on stronger demand
U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week to a 2-yr low on strengthened demand, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday, while crude inventories also posted a surprise drawdown as imports slipped.
Mexico's Pemex posts wider third-quarter loss, hit by weaker peso
Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex reported a deeper $8.2-B 3Q net loss on Tuesday, hurt mostly by a weaker exchange rate even as it benefited from support from the country's new government.
- Phillips 66 greenlights new gas plant and fractionator projects, advancing integrated wellhead-to-market strategy 5/18
- OXEA and Air Liquide renew syngas and hydrogen supply agreement for Oberhausen site 5/18
- BASF boosts refinery catalyst innovation with new R&D center in Attapulgus, Georgia (U.S.) 5/18
- Aster and Puraglobe sign MoU to bring world-leading re-refining technology to Asia 5/18
- U.S. oil refiners finally profit from biofuels due to mandates, high fuel prices 5/18
- China's April oil throughput hits lowest since August 2022, inventories rise 5/18

