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Americas

Air Products to supply hydrogen for Shell Deer Park refinery in Texas

Air Products announced a long-term agreement with Shell Oil to supply a significant portion of the hydrogen requirements at Shell's refinery in Deer Park, Texas. The hydrogen supply will commence in mid-2013, the company said.

Solazyme, Bunge JV plots Brazil renewable oil plant

US-based renewable oil and bioproducts company Solazyme has entered into a framework agreement with agribusiness firm Bunge for a joint venture focused on the production of triglyceride oils in Brazil. The venture anticipates building a 100,000 tpy renewable oil production facility located at a Bunge owned sugar cane mill in Brazil, it said.

NuStar, EOG to build rail offloading facility at Louisiana crude terminal

NuStar Logistics and EOG Resources have agreed to jointly develop, build and own a 70,000-bpd unit train offloading facility at NuStar’s crude oil terminal in St. James, La. The project will facilitate movement and storage of crude oil production from the Bakken, Eagle Ford and other developing shale plays in the US, the companies said.

US hikes storm forecast as Gulf season nears peak

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) elevated its forecast on Friday for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, raising the number of expected named storms from its preseason outlook and potentially threatening refining and petrochemical operations along the US Gulf coast and eastern seaboard.

SunPower to develop solar panel plant in Mexico

SunPower Corp. plans to build a solar panel manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Mexico, to meet the demand of a growing North American solar market, the firm said on Friday. SunPower plans to lease an existing building, which has up to 320,000 square feet of capacity, it said.

PPG to acquire Colombia coatings business

PPG Industries has agreed to purchase the coatings businesses of Colpisa Colombiana de Pinturas, a privately-owned Colombian coatings company, and its affiliates, including Colpisa Ecuador. The transaction is expected to close no later than the end of the first quarter 2012, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the company said.

Plains expands capacity of Texas crude pipeline

Plains All American Pipeline said on Thursday that it recently increased the available throughput capacity of its 80-mile Mesa pipeline system in Texas by 100,000 bpd to approximately 420,000 bpd overall.

Musket expanding crude rail facility in North Dakota

Musket Corp. on Thursday announced a major expansion of its Dore, N.D., crude-by-rail facility. Upon completion, the high-speed loading facility will be capable of moving unit trains of crude oil from the Bakken Shale/Williston Basin to markets across the country.

Dominion to build natural gas processing, liquids fractionation plant in West Virginia

Dominion said Thursday that it is proceeding with its next major project in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions, which is the construction of a large natural gas processing and fractionation plant along the Ohio River in Natrium, W.Va. The first phase of construction includes facilities that can process 200 million cubic feet/day of natural gas and fractionate 36,000 bpd of natural gas liquids.

ExxonMobil, Honeywell form licensing alliance for hydroprocessing, engineering

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. (EMRE) and Honeywell’s UOP have formed a joint marketing and licensing alliance for lube and advanced fuels hydroprocessing and engineering capabilities to companies in the refining sector.