Americas
NRI wins American Bureau of Shipping approval on pipeline repair systems
The ABS is responsible for the classification and verification of marine vessels and offshore structures for compliance with regulations for design and construction, along with a periodic survey. Over the past year, NRI completed the full ABS process, which includes application, evaluation and assessment.
Dow Chemical to shut 20 plants, cut 2,400 jobs
Dow's CEO Andrew Liveris says the cutbacks demonstrate a resolve to tightly manage operations, particularly in Europe, while mitigating the impact of a "slow-growth environment". With the moves, Dow expects to save $500 million in annual operating costs by the end of 2014.
Dow unveils new elastomers project for US Gulf
Dow says the production facility, when operational in 2016, will leverage its investment plan to increase ethylene and propylene production in the US Gulf Coast and will connect US operations into feedstock opportunities available from increasing supplies of US shale gas.
NGL profitability weakens amid rising US supply
Prices for natural gas liquids (NGLs) have dropped precipitously this year amid growing supplies, weakening margins for a key driver of US shale development. But extracting NGLs, such as ethane, propane and butane remains more attractive than producing dry natural gas, the report says.
TransCanada reopens Keystone after safety tests
The restart of the 590,000-bpd line comes two days after originally scheduled. TransCanada last week idled the line, which delivers heavy crude oil from Canada to refineries in the US Midwest, after finding an unspecified "anomaly" in Missouri. Additional tests are scheduled.
Air Products launches US Gulf hydrogen network
Air Products had operated two hydrogen pipeline systems in Texas and Louisiana before joining them with a new 180-mile segment. The new GCCP network is now able to provide hydrogen to customers along the 600-mile pipeline span from over 20 hydrogen production facilities.
Valero looks to sell two California refineries
Valero, one of the largest US refiners, operates a 78,000-bpd refinery in Wilmington outside Los Angeles and a 132,000-bpd refinery in Benicia, in the San Francisco Bay area. Together the plants represent about 10% of the company's US refining capacity. Valero has not yet put a price tag on the refineries.
Enbridge delays project work in Canada for Cabin gas processing plant
The Cabin plant had regulatory approvals for processing capacity of about 800 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, and Phase 1 was expected to be in service late this year. Phase 2 was expected to be ready for service in the third quarter 2014. The company didn't say why the development was deferred.
API sees falling US demand for gasoline, distillates
Demand for gasoline dropped 2% from a year earlier, to 8.572 million bpd, the API said. The nine-month average demand of 8.73 million bpd was down 0.7% from the same time in 2011. September demand for distillate fuel (heating oil/diesel) was 4% below the year-earlier level, at 3.777 million bpd.
Pemex LPG line catches fire near Guadalajara after backhoe punctures pipe
Pemex said in a series of messages on its Twitter page that two people were injured in the fire that erupted late Thursday - a highway worker and a firefighter. Gas supplies to Guadalajara were affected, the company added, but inventories will allow normal LPG deliveries to customers.
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