Environment & Safety
EPA amends US clean air rules for refinery flares
The US Environmental Protection Agency changed its air-pollution standards for certain pieces of refinery equipment, saying the changes will save oil refiners $80 million a year and provide greater compliance flexibility. The EPA had received petitions from outside groups to review the requirements.
Shale boom at risk over environment concerns
The IEA report shows how the shale gas industry, which has dramatically altered the US energy landscape, stands at a tipping point to determine how it spreads worldwide.
EPA could double fraudulent US biofuel claims
Republicans say they have evidence the EPA may double the number of US biodiesel credits it has deemed fraudulent, raising the specter of more financial penalties for refiners.
Total Safety wins top contractor safety award from Houston business group
Global safety services company Total Safety was honored this month by the Houston Business Roundtable with a “Best in Category” safety award from a field that included 134 companies. Total Safety won in the “Technical Support - Large” category and was nominated by several customers.
UOP opens gas processing membrane production center in Malaysia
UOP has opened a manufacturing and operations center in Penang, Malaysia, to produce natural gas membrane elements to support the growing natural gas market. Removing impurities is necessary before the gas can be used as fuel, as a source for petrochemicals or distributed by pipeline.
UK investor warns shale gas industry on emissions
One of Europe's largest institutional investors warned the shale gas industry to do more to prevent the release of the potent greenhouse gas methane during drilling, which is undermining its basis as a cleaner alternative to coal. Comments were directed primarily at drilling operations in the US.
BP to pay $400mn for pollution controls in Whiting refinery settlement with US
BP has agreed to pay an $8 million penalty and invest more than $400 million to install pollution controls and cut emissions from its petroleum refinery in Whiting, Indiana, according to the US EPA. The Whiting refinery has an operating capacity of 405,000 bpd, making it the 6th-largest in the US.
Lightning sparks fire at Pennsylvania coatings plant of Dow Chemical
Dow Chemical said an early Wednesday lightning strike hit two storage tanks holding ethyl acetate and butyl acetate at its Bristol coatings plant near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fire broke out at 3:35 a.m. local time. Employees at the site were evacuated and none were injured, Dow said.
Shell reports fire, unplanned unit outage at Motiva refinery in Port Arthur
Shell Oil said a unit was shut unplanned over the weekend at its joint venture Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, after a relatively brief fire at an associated heater. The Motiva refinery is a joint venture with Saudi Refining. The total throughput capacity is rated at 310,000 bpd.
LSB shuts Arkansas chemical plant after explosion
LSB Industries said its El Dorado chemical facility in Arkansas suffered significant damage to the DSN concentrated nitric acid plant and surrounding equipment when a reactor exploded Tuesday morning. The El Dorado facility is out of operation at the present time due to the damage.
- EIA: U.S. refining capacity increased in 2023 with expansions and existing facilities 7/30
- Neste, HELLENiQ ENERGY collaborate to boost the availability of blended SAF in Greece 7/30
- Air New Zealand scraps 2030 carbon goals citing high SAF prices 7/30
- SUEZ and hte collaborate for the catalytic valorization of biomass 7/30
- KT - Kinetics Technology has finalized the purchase of APS Evolution engineering company 7/30
- Angola's new 30,000-bpd Cabinda refinery to start up later this year 7/30
- 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
