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Tesoro formally acquires BP refinery in Carson

HP Editorial Staff: HP News

With the June 1 completion of the $2.4 billion deal, Tesoro took ownership of the 266,000 bpd Carson refinery near Los Angeles as well as the associated logistics network of pipelines and terminals. BP said the transaction was part of a plan to reshape its US fuels business.

US imposes sanctions on Iran petrochemical firms

The US Treasury Department said it identified eight Iranian petrochemical companies as being under the control of the Tehran government, which subjects them to sanctions from the US. Since last year, the US has brandished sanctions against anyone who buys Iran's oil.

CPChem to add ethylene furnace at Texas complex

Construction is targeted to commence within the next quarter, with an anticipated startup in 2014. While the additional furnace will not add to nameplate capacity, the increased operating factor should result in a net increase of 200 million pounds of ethylene availability to provide additional operational flexibility.

Canadian group signs deal with Germany's E.ON to export LNG via Atlantic

Pieridae Energy (Canada) Ltd. said it plans to ship about 5 million tons of LNG annually to Western Europe from a LNG plant it plans to build in Goldboro, Nova Scotia on Canada's Atlantic coast. The exact financial terms weren't disclosed, but E.ON said the contract is worth several billion euros per year.

Case history: New developments with lower catalyst-to-feed ratios for FCC units

RAS, A.V. Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas: Levinbuk, M.
JSC, Gazpromneft: Maksimov, I.  |  Kuznetsov, S.
Gazprom Neft: Galkin, V. V.  |  Makhiyanov, V.

A study was conducted using a series of FCC catalysts that included reduced rare-earth content and increased zeolite Y quantity systems. The goal was to raise gasoline yield along with greater yields of olefins.

How to select the ‘best’ fired heater for your operations

Linde Engineering North America, Inc.: Shahani, G.  |  Remster, J.  |  Ma, D.  |  Hashmi, O.

With the fluctuation of natural gas pricing, it is important to evaluate technically feasible solutions and choose the most economical alternative. Ultimately, this leads to a simpler and more cost-effective solution.

Successfully design fired heaters using ultra-low-NOx burners

Bechtel Corp.: Ahamad, S.  |  Vallavanatt, R.

Recent environmental regulations mandate that refinery and petrochemical industries reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Emissions legislations are constantly under review, and they differ from coun..

Can process automation increase energy efficiency?

Energy efficiency doesn’t imply producing less to reduce energy consumptions, but rather improving plant productivity and effectiveness, allowing plants to produce the same amount of product with fewer resources.

Tune up the ‘sweetening’ process for your facility

CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum: Garg, M. O.  |  Kumar, S.  |  Ganguly, S. K.  |  Das, G.  |  Sain, B.

Novel catalysts can improve the oxidation of thiols (RSH) found in light oils. Thiols in petroleum products, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and light straight-run naphtha (LSRN), usually found ..

Optimize crude preheat train to balance efficiency and operability

Foster Wheeler: Zhang, J.

Critical attention must be paid when designing the crude distillation unit (CDU) preheat train. Many pitfalls can easily lead to unnecessary expenditures or unsatisfactory operations. Key design crite..