Americas
Braskem says wins final approval in global leniency deal
BRASILIA (Reuters) — Braskem SA, Latin America's largest petrochemical company, said on Tuesday that it had obtained approval from a Brazilian court for its leniency deal in a corruption case involving political kickbacks at Brazil's Petrobras.
Venezuelan refinery reels as PDVSA ships light oil to Cuba, Curacao
(Reuters) — Venezuela's 187,000-bpd Puerto la Cruz refinery is running at 16% of capacity, mainly due to a lack of light oil as state-run PDVSA ships a portion of its Mesa 30 crude to Cuba and Curacao, according to internal trade reports and workers.
EIA: As US airlines carry more passengers, jet fuel use remains well below its previous peak
The amount of jet fuel consumed by US airlines increased in both 2015 and 2016, although jet fuel use in 2016 remained 11% lower than its level a decade ago. Jet fuel use was lower despite the fact that the number of passengers traveling on US carriers in 2016 was 7% higher than in 2007.
Dow completes construction of enhanced polyethylene production unit in Texas
Completed on time, the 400 Mt polyethylene unit is the first of four new derivative investments currently under way at Dow’s manufacturing sites in Texas and Louisiana as part of the company’s previously announced $6 B expansion on the US Gulf Coast.
US CFTC says it is not probing Icahn's activity in biofuels credits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission informed eight Democratic US senators last month that it is not investigating biofuels credits after the lawmakers had urged it to probe billionaire Carl Icahn's activity in that market, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.
Global Project Data
<i>Hydrocarbon Processing’s</i> Construction Boxscore Database is tracking more than 1,700 active downstream projects around the world.
Industry Metrics
US gasoline demand increased with the shift to summer fuels and higher export opportunities to Latin America.
Industry Perspectives: The digitalization of the downstream industry
The digitalization of the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) is in full swing. Numerous companies have created, and are optimizing, digital technologies to improve plant operations, increase energy efficiency and lower costs.
Editorial Comment: Optimizing our message to the oil and gas industry
The pages of <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i> contain numerous case studies, techniques, advice and step-by-step approaches to optimizing downstream operations. These elements have been the focus of the magazine for the last 95 yr.
Oil edges up in quiet holiday trade, focus on crude glut
(Reuters) — Oil prices rose slightly on Monday, paring steep losses from last week, but the market remained cautious as increases in US drilling activity have undercut an OPEC-led push to tighten supply.
- Valero Energy Q4 profit beats estimates; shares surge 1/30
- Dow launches "Transform to Outperform" to raise the competitive industry benchmark for productivity and growth to enable improved returns 1/30
- Russian oil refineries' peak maintenance expected in January and September 1/30
- U.S. lifts some Venezuela sanctions to ease oil sales 1/30
- Keppel, Aster plan sustainable aviation fuel project in Singapore 1/30
- Boeing, Israel's Technion to develop sustainable aviation fuel, as sector grapples with 2050 goal 1/30
