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Americas

HP Automation Safety: MTTR: Reality vs. calculation

exida LLC: Goble, W.

Many reliability engineers trained before IEC 61508 know the acronym MTTR as “mean time to repair.” I certainly learned that definition. Naturally, I think of the time it takes to repair som..

HP Industry Perspectives: Is it too early to be optimistic for 2014?

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Romanow, Stephany

The increased availability of natural gas supplies are redefining energy conditions. New natural gas reserves are shifting the order for producing nations. Shale gas reserves, once difficult to extrac..

Phillips 66 to build LPG export terminal in Texas

The proposed terminal would provide 4.4 million bbl/monthof LPG export capacity, the equivalent of eight very large gas carriers (VLGC). It would be located at the site of the company’s existing marine terminal in Freeport and utilize existing Phillips 66 midstream, transportation and storage infrastructure.

US oil, gas M&A activity led by foreign buyers, private equity groups

Foreign buyers announced nine deals in the third quarter of 2013, which contributed $2.8 billion or 17% of total deal value, vs. four deals valued at $4 billion during the same period last year. On a sequential basis from the second quarter, the number of total deals increased 800% from just one foreign deal.

OxyChem, Mexichem grant final approval on new Texas ethylene cracker

HP Editorial Staff: HP News

The two companies will build a 1.2 billion lb/year ethylene cracker at the OxyChem complex in Ingleside, Texas, along with related pipelines and storage at Markham, Texas.

CF to expand US ammonia, urea production plants

CF Industries is constructing new ammonia and urea/UAN plants at its Donaldsonville complex and new ammonia and urea plants at its Port Neal complex. In combination, these two new facilities will be able to produce 2.1 million tpy of gross ammonia and upgraded products such as granular urea.

WGL ’13: Keynote speaker pushes women in energy to innovate

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Adrienne Blume

Innovation is key to keeping the energy sector at the forefront of US economic growth, and more of this innovation must come from women, says Amity Shlaes, a project director at the George W. Bush Institute.

REG starts up newly-acquired Iowa biorefinery, plans $20 million upgrade

REG completed the acquisition of the former Soy Energy refinery on July 31. REG immediately began efforts to repair and restart the plant, which began producing biodiesel on October 1. REG also announced that it has begun a $20 million project to upgrade the plant to a multi-feedstock facility.

Air Products to supply hydrogen for North West refinery near Edmonton

The hydrogen supply to North West will come both from the new world-scale plant that Air Products will build in Scotford, Canada, and from Air Products' existing Heartland hydrogen pipeline. The hydrogen supply to North West is expected to begin in 2016, soon after commercialization of the Scotford plant.

US exports of NGLs poised to quadruple by 2020

The Panama Canal expansion, slated for completion in 2015, will allow the transit of large tankers and put costs to ship US gas liquids to Asia on a par with deliveries from the Middle East, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. US exports would jump to 20 million metric tons by 2020 from the current 5 million tons.