Refining
US to overtake Saudi Arabia as top oil producer, says IEA
A shale oil boom means US production will pass that of Saudi Arabia by 2020, the IEA says, in a radical shift that could greatly transform energy supplies and geopolitics. The assessment is in stark contrast with last year, when the agency envisioned Russia and Saudi Arabia vying for the top position.
PdVSA to restore Amuay refinery output this year
PdVSA has on multiple occasions missed targets for resuming normal operations at Amuay. Reuters reported earlier that the company is waiting for replacements for parts that were damaged in the blast, which, once installed, will restore Amuay to pre-explosion processing levels.
TransCanada expects Keystone XL approval after Obama re-election
Supporters of the project say it will create jobs, lower gasoline prices and spur US energy independence by greatly increasing the amount of available crude supply. However, the project has drawn the ire of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, which are worried about safety.
Shell to set up global technology hub in Bangalore
The company said the Bangalore site will become operational by around the middle of the decade and will have up to 1,500 technology specialists. It will provide technology services to exploration, production, refinery, chemical and other businesses, according to a company statement.
US energy groups target Keystone approval, shale as Obama wins second term
Obama won the US election with 332 electoral votes, far exceeding the 270 required to win. Republican challenger Mitt Romney finished with 206. “Right off the bat, the president can approve the Keystone Pipeline and put thousands of Americans to work immediately," said the API's chief executive.
Vietnam strikes deal to build second oil refinery
Plans to build Vietnam's second oil refinery, which comes with a price tag of between $8 billion and $10 billion, has been hampered for years due to financing issues between the Vietnamese government and the two main partners, Japan's Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum.
India's Gulf Oil to buy specialty chemicals company Houghton International
The acquisition will allow Gulf Oil, part of the diversified Hinduja Group, to expand its lubricants and chemicals business. Indian companies have been increasingly looking overseas for acquisitions because red tape, corruption and land acquisition issues often hurt plans to expand at home.
Marathon Petroleum restarts Detroit refinery after major expansion project
The $2.2 billion, four-year Detroit Heavy Oil Upgrade Project increased the refinery's heavy-oil processing capacity to 100,000 bpd, five times the amount it could process before the project. Heavy oil is usually sold at discounts to light varieties, which are easier to process.
Fire erupts at PdVSA Cardon refinery in Venezuela
Workers at the site shut down the unit shortly after a small explosion caused a fire at the plant, Ivan Freites, secretary general of the local oil workers union, said. He added that some workers were being evacuated as a precautionary measure but did not offer more details.
Kuwait to tender new refinery, clean fuel projects by early next year
The new refinery will be located in Kuwait's Al Zour region while the clean fuel project will involve a major upgrade of existing refineries in Mina Abdullah and Mina Al Ahmadi. KPC awarded two firms consultancy contracts for the projects and the other tenders for construction will soon be issued.
- HIF Global and German eFuel One GmbH sign HoA for e-methanol offtake 2/20
- Venezuela's refineries boost processing to 35% of capacity 2/20
- New Trinidad gas projects could provide necessary feedstock for country's petchem and LNG sectors 2/20
- MK-Polymer delivers ethylene-propylene rubber to JSC Kazenergokabel 2/20
- Mexican authorities shut down 22-m long tunnel used in illegal smuggling of fuel supplies 2/20
- Digital Feature: First-stage ejector nozzle retrofit achieves meaningful performance improvement 2/20
