Europe
Shell to buy fuel from Petroplus French refinery
The company will use the France refinery owned by insolvent Swiss-based refiner Petroplus to process crude oil for six months, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
TNK-BP to review operations at unprofitable Ukraine refinery
Russian oil major TNK-BP, half-owned by BP, said Friday that operations at the Lisichansk refinery in Ukraine have become unprofitable and it plans to further review its options for increasing efficiency. The refinery has a capacity of over 7 million tpy of crude oil.
Lower crude exports from Iran could trigger 30% spike in oil prices - IMF
A halt of Iran's oil exports to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries could trigger a 20%-30% spike in oil prices, an International Monetary Fund official said. The EU last month said it would ban all purchases of oil from Iran for countries within the union.
ExxonMobil says oil, gas reserves higher in 2011
ExxonMobil said Thursday the company's 2011 proved oil-and-gas reserves inched up compared with the previous year. The bulk of reserves additions came from the Kearl Expansion Project in Canada, which totaled 1 billion oil-equivalent bbl. Additions were also made in the US, Nigeria and Indonesia.
ITT lands global deal to supply pumps for Shell
ITT announced an agreement with Shell Global Solutions in which ITT’s Goulds Pumps brand will provide American Petroleum Institute (API) centrifugal pumps to support Shell operations worldwide. The deal is for five years with an option for an additional five years. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Shell eyes East Africa LNG, makes Cove Energy bid
Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday proposed to buy all the shares of UK-listed Cove Energy, marking the company's first foray into Kenya and Mozambique. Shell is one of the world's largest LNG producers with equity sales volumes of 18.83 million tpy of LNG in 2011.
Shell extends Wood Group engineering contract for UK gas plants
Wood Group has secured a contract extension from Shell in the UK to deliver midstream engineering and construction services to the St Fergus and Mossmoran gas plants. The award marks a continuation of the previous contract awarded to Wood Group in 2007, the companies noted.
IEA says Europe can handle loss of Iranian oil
The EU could handle a sudden end to imports of Iranian oil because of changes already being made due to the coming ban on Iranian shipments, an IEA official said. But the official also warned that the standoff has the potential to hurt the global economy by pushing oil prices higher.
Poland discussing shale gas incentives with EU - Talisman CEO
Poland is still in discussions with the European Union on developing a tax regime that incentivizes shale gas exploration in the eastern European country, said Talisman Energy CEO John Manzoni. Manzoni said initial findings were "not discouraging, just too early to tell" the degree of commerciality.
Russia’s Gazprom fully restores Europe gas flows
Russia has fully restored natural gas shipments to Europe, the country's state gas firm said Monday, after it had been unable to meet rising demand in recent weeks due to cold weather across the continent. Europe relies on Russia for over a quarter of its gas needs.

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- Novatek partially resumed processing at Ust-Luga complex 8/29
- Phillips 66 to begin winding down Los Angeles-area refinery next week 8/29
- Update: Mexico's Minatitlan refinery back online, Olmeca still down 8/29
- SIBUR produces test batch of first hexane plant in Russia 8/28
- Universal Fuel Technologies’ SAF accepted into ASTM Clearinghouse for qualification 8/28