Europe
Evonik breaks ground on stretching, polishing plant for large-format aircraft materials
WEITERSTADT, Germany -- Evonik marked the start of construction of a new stretching and polishing plant at the Weiterstadt site with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 2. The Essen-based Group is investing a two-digit million euro amount in the plant.
Oil trading giant Vitol bets on fuel retail for growth
LONDON (Reuters) -- From Pakistan to Turkey, the world's largest independent oil trader Vitol is betting on a spike in gasoline and diesel demand in young and growing nations by snapping up filling stations that disappointed oil companies are prepared to sell.
EIA: Norway’s Troll crude oil to be included in Brent price assessment
The method for assessing the Brent global benchmark crude oil price is scheduled to change in 2018. The Brent price benchmark reflects transactions involving physical cargoes of several specific grades of crude oil in the North Sea, located between the United Kingdom and Norway.
Akzo Nobel rejects $22-B PPG bid, looks to spin off chemicals
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- Dutch paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel NV rejected a $22 billion bid from larger US rival PPG Industries Inc on Thursday, saying instead it wanted to "unlock value" by spinning off its chemicals business.
Amec awarded Al-Zour, Kuwait petchem contract
Amec Foster Wheeler announced the award of a contract by Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C., a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Company, for the integration project between its Olefins III, Aromatics II and ZOR Refinery in the State of Kuwait. The contract covers Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) leading to Project Management Consultancy (PMC) for the project.
Aeromon demos drone measurement platform for emissions mapping
HELSINKI, Finland -- Aeromon, a Finnish cleantech startup that utilizes analytics platform and mobile sensors to flexibly map emissions in real-time, demonstrated the effectiveness of drone-mounted platforms for measuring industrial emissions.
Amec awarded Eni contract for ‘green’ refinery conversion
Amec Foster Wheeler announced that it has been awarded a lump sum turn-key contract in excess of €50 million by Eni SpA for the engineering, procurement and construction of a new steam reforming plant for hydrogen production to be built at its refinery at Gela, Italy.
STAR ’17: ‘Design Exploration’ leads the way
BERLIN -- STAR Global Conference 2017 wrapped after two days of user presentations in five parallel tracks. Session themes included ground transportation, powertrain, automotive, internal combustion engines, aerospace, marine, life sciences, electronics & electrification, buildings, chemical process industry, oil & gas and energy.
E.ON blames costs beyond its control for UK fuel price hike
LONDON (Reuters) -- E.ON UK will raise its standard variable dual-fuel prices by 8.8% from April 26, affecting around 2.5 million customers, the British arm of German utility E.ON said.
CERAWeek ’17: IEA expects global oil demand to rise, outpace supply after 2020
HOUSTON -- Global oil demand will continue to rise in the next five years, dominated by India and Asia, the International Energy Agency said Monday, March 6, during the first day of CERAWeek in Houston.

- CNOOC completes construction on $2.9-B, 1.8-MMtpy integrated complex in east China 8/22
- bp's Whiting refinery (U.S.) continues to flare days after severe thunderstorm 8/22
- Bachmann introduces latest version M-Target for Simulink 8/22
- U.S. to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait 8/22
- Chinese independent refiner Hongrun buys Canadian, Brazilian crude 8/22
- Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia 8/22