Europe
Engineering and construction news
CB&I to buy Shaw GroupCB&I has agreed to acquire Shaw Group, a US-based engineering company primarily focused on serving clients in the power generation and government services sector. The acquisition..
Technip formally acquires Shaw energy, chemicals
Proceeds from the sale were approximately $290 million in cash, Shaw said. The completion of this deal also satisfies one of the conditions of the recently announced agreement for CB&I to acquire Shaw.
Neste Oil completes first phase of European pilot plant for microbial oil
Neste says its goal is to develop the technology so that it is capable of yielding commercial volumes of microbial oil for use as a feedstock for NExBTL renewable diesel. Commercial-scale production is expected by 2015 at the earliest. Investment terms were not disclosed.
Gunvor starts former Petroplus refinery in Germany
All regulatory and merger control approvals have been obtained. The official closing date was August 23, and the first crude vessel has already discharged to supply the refinery. The production capacity is 100,000 bpd.
Protesters occupy Gazprom Arctic oil platform
UPDATE: Fifteen hours after boarding Gazprom's Arctic oil platform in the Pechora Sea, six Greenpeace International protesters have left the platform. Gazprom officials said in a statement that normal operations continue on the platform and were not interrupted by the protest.
Uhde wins FEED work for Sibur PP plant in Russia
The 500,000 tpy plant is planned to be constructed in Tobolsk, Tyumen Region, in West Siberia. The plant will produce a wide range of high-quality polypropylene brands for use, for example, in textile and packaging applications as well as in the production of automotive body parts and consumer goods.
Argentina files complaint against EU over Spanish blockage of biodiesel
Argentina's Foreign Ministry said Spain's rules were an attempt to stop developing countries from gaining more control of global value chains and evolving beyond their role as suppliers of raw materials, according to a statement. With the complaint, Spain now has 60 days to show its rules are fair.
Honeywell develops fuel-saving flight management software for airliners
Some estimates place potential benefits at as much as 3% in savings on reduced fuel use. Others project as much as $200,000 in annual savings per plane while cruising long oceanic routes. United Continental Holdings is running demonstration flights to verify such estimates.
Novozymes pressured by weak US biofuels market
Bioethanol production and profitability has been hampered by the drought in the US, which has pushed up the prices for corn, the main ingredient in the production of biofuel. Additional pressure has been added by a decline in overall fuel consumption in the US, the Novozymes executive said.
BASF joins collaboration to develop bio-acrylic acid
BASF, Cargill and Novozymes recently signed an agreement to develop bio-based technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks. The annual global market volume of acrylic acid is around 4.5 million tons, with a value of $11 billion at the end of 2011.
- SIBUR produces test batch of first hexane plant in Russia 8/28
- Universal Fuel Technologies’ SAF accepted into ASTM Clearinghouse for qualification 8/28
- Sinopec wins engineering contract for Saudi Arabian green hydrogen/ammonia project 8/28
- Russia's idle oil refining capacity record high after Ukrainian drone attacks 8/28
- Brazil approves temporary antidumping measures against Canadian, U.S. polyethylene resins 8/28
- South Korea petrochemical overhaul likely to shut small, stand-alone naphtha crackers 8/28
