Environment & Safety
California safety, health board approves new hazard regulations for refineries
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Department of Industrial Relations' (DIR) Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved a regulation to strengthen workplace safety and health at oil refineries across the state. The new regulation provides a framework for anticipating, preventing and responding to hazards at refineries.
Fire triggered by suspected fuel thieves kills four in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) -- A fire sparked by suspected fuel thieves killed four people and forced Mexico's state oil company Pemex to temporarily halt pumping operations along a pipeline in the country's violent eastern state of Veracruz, the company said on Saturday.
EPA: Grandview petroleum distributor to upgrade 180 storage tank alarm systems
The US Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with Christensen, Inc., a Grandview, Washington-based petroleum storage and distribution company over their failure to submit important emergency planning information for several years at five facilities in central Washington and one in Seattle.
Fire hits Lukoil refinery in Russia's Urals
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A fire erupted at a refinery of Russia's No. 2 oil producer Lukoil in the city of Perm in the Urals region, a local branch of the company, Lukoil Permnefteorgsintez, said on Friday.
US agency: Weak safety standards led to Exxon refinery blast
HOUSTON (Reuters) -- The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has concluded that a 2015 explosion at a Torrance, California, refinery then owned by Exxon Mobil Corp could have been prevented, the agency concluded in a report issued on Wednesday.
Gas leak at chemical firm Ineos contained at Scotland's Grangemouth
EDINBURGH (Reuters) -- A gas leak inside chemical firm Ineos' Grangemouth site in Scotland was successfully contained on Tuesday after emergency services rushed to the scene, police said.
Business Trends: Human reliability—a disruptive innovation
Annual bottom-line losses due to equipment failures total more than $100 MM at major refineries and petrochemical complexes. Corporate executives charge plant personnel with improving the reliability of the facility.
Editorial Comment: Maintenance—a value-added expense
This issue of <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i> tackles one of the most integral aspects of the downstream industry (or any industry, for that matter): maintenance and reliability. These two terms go hand-in-hand and help to ensure efficient and safe operations.
Prevent human-created hazards with improved job safety analysis
Safety incidents have occurred since the beginning of time. If a “hunter-gatherer” failed to return at the end of a day, the remaining group members took it in stride.
Installation of liquid sulfur degassing processes in existing SRUs
Over the last 35 yr, more companies worldwide have installed liquid sulfur degassing processes in their sulfur recovery units (SRUs) to minimize the dangers of the release of hydrogen sulfide from the produced elemental sulfur.
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- Petrobras wrapping up due diligence to buy back refinery from Mubadala 7/26
- US court rejects EPA denials of 2022 small refinery biofuel waivers 7/26
- Mexico seeks more 2025 fuel import deals after refinery delays 7/26
- PETRONAS, Eni and Euglena reach FID to construct a biorefinery in Malaysia 7/26
- ExxonMobil signs carbon capture agreement with CF Industries in Mississippi (U.S,) 7/26
- WoodMac: LNG truck sales impacting Chinese road diesel demand 7/26
- Digital Exclusive: SPECIAL FOCUS: Digital Technologies—Utilize process simulation digital twin to optimize condensate yield
- Digital Exclusive-Flare system design: Liquid pockets in flare headers
- Hydrogen-rich content gasoline: A new concept for paraffinic gasoline reformulation
- Alarm rationalization at Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) refineries