Environment & Safety
Essar extinguishes furnace fire at UK refinery
Supplies to customers are being largely maintained to schedule, and Essar says it has plans in place to ensure that remains the case while repairs are made to the unit. The fire at the Stanlow refinery didn't impact the two main crude distillation units or the residue catalytic cracking unit.
Motiva shuts leaky CDU at expanded Texas refinery
The Motiva refinery is jointly owned by Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. The new crude unit is the culmination of a $10 billion expansion project that added 325,000 bpd of capacity and made the refinery one of the largest in the world. The unit, first commissioned in May, has experienced several setbacks.
Nebraska agency completes environment review of Keystone XL pipeline
A new pipeline route curves east of the Sand Hills but would still cross the Ogallala Aquifer, a source of drinking water and irrigation supplies, Friday's report from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality said. The new route also avoids many fragile soils in northern Nebraska and shallow groundwater areas.
Phillips 66, Conoco accused of violating California hazardous waste laws
In a civil lawsuit, the state accused the companies of tampering with leak detection devices, and failing to test secondary containment systems and maintain alarm systems, among other violations. Conoco said the California lawsuit "is [Phillips 66's] issue on which to comment, not ours."
Transocean pays $1.4bn to settle US Gulf oil spill
Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded in April 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest offshore spill in US history. It will plead guilty to one criminal misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act for failing to properly monitor the well at the time of the blowout.
Environmental groups to seek suspension of Shell permits in Arctic region
The request comes after a drilling rig owned by Shell broke free of a tug boat late last week and then wedged itself on rocks off Sitkalidak Island. Environmental groups say the accident demonstrates how risky it is for oil companies to operate in the icy, foggy and often stormy conditions near Alaska.
Shell drilling rig accident in Alaska could jeopardize future Arctic oil projects
Shell had said it would invest $5bn to explore for oil and gas in the Arctic, but extreme weather has riddled the project with accidents and missed schedules and could raise the hackles of environmentalists. That in turn might hurt Noble Corp. and others seeking to expand exploration in the region.
Refiners now have a new biofuel option
Biobutanol is coming to market as a gasoline blendstock and can be efficiently made by a range of renewable feedstocks.
HP Brief
Uncertainty looms in EU economyEuropean chemicals output contracted by 2% in 2012 compared with 2011, according to European chemicals group Cefic. By lowering its forecast released in September, the c..
HP Impact: Canadian oil sands GHG emissions scrutinized
IHS has released an update to its 2010 report comparing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fuels made from Canadian oil sands to those from other crude sources. The new analysis found that total ..
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