Americas
BP commissions new coker at Whiting refinery
The start-up of the new 102,000 bpd coker marks the last major milestone of BP's multi-year, multi-billion dollar modernization project at the refinery in Northwest Indiana.
Jacobs to provide program management at new US nitrogen fertilizer facility
Construction of the plant is expected to begin in November of 2014 and take three years to complete. Once operational, Midwest Fertilizer will make nitrogen-based fertilizers to supply domestic demand.
US chemical sector poised for dynamic expansion as investment increases
Supported by activity within the domestic chemicals sector, the ACC says the US economy is likely to see continued, though moderated growth in 2014, according to ACC's monthly Chemical Activity Barometer.
Shell Canada, Caterpillar explore LNG fuels for use in Alberta mining trucks
Caterpillar will leverage its experience with LNG in other applications, and will continue development work to design and build a fully integrated mining truck where LNG displaces most of the diesel power. Caterpillar will test the design at Shell's oil sands operations located near Fort McMurray.
US safety board seeks overhaul of California refinery regulations
After the August 2012 fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery, the CSB says it wants to replace reactive and activity-based regulations with a rigorous, performance-based scheme.
Alfa Laval wins order to supply heat exchangers at US petrochemical plant
The Alfa Laval OLMI heat exchangers will be used to increase the yield and recover energy in the production of ethylene, an important ingredient for the manufacturing of industrial chemicals and plastics products.
US PVC prices to rise in 2014 on higher ethylene costs, export demand
Stronger prices for the ethylene used to make PVC and strong PVC export markets are supporting the upward momentum in PVC pricing, according to a weekly newsletter.
Sapphire Energy, Phillips 66 advance algae crude oil commercialization
Sapphire Energy and Phillips 66 say they will work together to collect and analyze data from co-processing of algae and conventional crude oil into fuels. The goal is to complete fuel certifications to ready Sapphire's renewable crude oil, called Green Crude, for wide-scale oil refining.
Cansolv Technologies renames as Shell Cansolv
Shell Cansolv is a leader in gas treating technologies, with a portfolio of reliable solutions enabling customers to meet stringent product specifications and emission limits at lower costs.
Calumet acquires US lubricants company Bel-Ray
Today, Bel-Ray's specialty lubricants are widely accepted as a brand of choice used in the aerospace, automotive, energy, food, marine, military, mining, motorcycle, powersports, steel and textiles industries.

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