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Americas

US crude stockpiles drop the most since September

NEW YORK (Reuters) — US crude oil inventories last week dropped the most in ten months, falling more than expected as imports declined and refining rates rose, while gasoline stocks decreased although demand remained lackluster, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Pipelines secured as wildfires rage in western Canada

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) — Major pipeline companies in western Canada created fire breaks, installed sprinklers and took other measures to protect operations as raging wildfires spread to more than 93,000 acres in British Columbia.

US petroleum refinery capacity continues to increase

As of Jan. 1, US operable atmospheric crude distillation capacity reached 18.6 MMbpd, 1.6% higher than at the beginning of 2016, according to EIA's annual Refinery Capacity Report. This increase in operable capacity was slightly lower than last year’s increase of 2.0%.

OPEC sees lower demand for its oil in 2018, points to surplus

LONDON (Reuters) — World demand for OPEC's crude will decline next year as US shale producers and other rivals pump more, OPEC said on Wednesday, suggesting the oil market will see a surplus in 2018 despite an OPEC-led output cut.

US EPA chief says to treat diesel emissions cheating 'very aggressively'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — US Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt said the agency must ensure Volkswagen AG's excess diesel emissions is not repeated, and will treat improper behavior by automakers "very aggressively."

Canada Kuwait petchem chooses Honeywell technology for new complex in Alberta

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Honeywell announced that Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp. (CKPC) has chosen Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to produce 550,000 mtpy of polymer-grade propylene at CKPC’s proposed facility in Sturgeon County near Edmonton, Alberta. CKPC is a JV of Pembina Pipeline Corporation of Canada and Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C. of Kuwait.

Williams Partners completes sale of olefins facility to NOVA Chemicals

TULSA, Okla. — Williams Partners L.P. announced that it has completed the sale of all of its membership interest in Williams Olefins L.L.C., which owns an 88.46% undivided ownership interest in the Geismar, Louisiana, olefins plant and associated complex, to NOVA Chemicals for $2.1 B in cash, subject to a working capital adjustment.

Linde AG awarded EPC contract for new Braskem polypropylene production line

LA PORTE, Texas and PHILADELPHIA — Braskem, the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas, announced that The Linde Group, a gases and engineering company, has been selected as the lead engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build Braskem's new world-scale North American polypropylene (PP) production line.

CB&I awarded material supply contract for ethylene expansion project

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — CB&I announced it has been awarded a contract by PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) to supply materials for the revamp of existing cracking heaters at CAP's naphtha cracker plant in Cilegon, Indonesia.

India buys first ever US crude oil, to step up purchases

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) — India, the world's third-largest oil importer, will import crude oil from the United States for the first time after Indian Oil Corp bought a cargo that will be delivered in October.