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Europe

UK Forties oil cargoes delayed for weeks by pipeline shutdown

LONDON (Reuters) — The loading dates of cargoes of Forties crude, which help set the global Brent benchmark, have been delayed by at least two weeks and further hold-ups are likely, trade sources said, following the closure of the North Sea Forties pipeline for repairs.

Honeywell implements advanced process control at Bashneft refineries

MOSCOW — Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) announced its advanced process control (APC) at the Bashneft oil refining complex (part of Rosneft Oil Company) has demonstrated high efficiency, paying for itself in the first year of operation.

Italmatch Chemicals acquires specialty chemicals company

GENOA, Italy — Italmatch Chemicals, a global specialty chemical group with leadership in the production and marketing of performance additives for industrial lubricants, water & process treatment, oil & gas, and plastics, has acquired Detrex Corporation, an American company headquartered in Cleveland (Ohio) and specialized, through its subsidiary The Elco Corporation, in the production of high performance lubricant additives, for industrial applications and high purity hydrochloric acid.

Ineos considers shifting refinery work due to Forties outage

LONDON (Reuters) — Ineos may bring forward maintenance work at its Grangemouth refinery in Scotland due to the unplanned outage at its Forties North Sea crude pipeline, which threatens to choke the plant's feedstock, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Polish refiner PKN seeks full control of Czech unit Unipetrol

PRAGUE/WARSAW (Reuters) — Poland's biggest oil refiner PKN Orlen kicked off a voluntary tender offer to buy the remaining shares in Czech downstream oil group Unipetrol to take full control and delist it from the Prague bourse.

OPEC sees balanced oil market by late 2018 as cuts erode glut

LONDON (Reuters) — OPEC expects the world oil market to be balanced by late 2018 as its deal with other producers to cut output reduces excess oil in storage, even as US and other producers outside the group pump more crude.

Neste picks Singapore for new biofuel refinery

Neste's Board of Directors has decided that Neste's additional production capacity for renewable diesel, renewable aviation fuel and raw materials for various biochemical uses will be located in Singapore. The decision initiates technical design of the new production line, with the aim of a final investment decision by the end of 2018.

Unipetrol limits Litvinov refinery operations after fire

PRAGUE (Reuters) — Unipetrol limited operations at its Litvinov plant on Tuesday after a morning fire at its partial oxidation (POX) unit, the Czech refiner said.

Britain's biggest oil pipeline shut ‘for weeks’ for repairs

LONDON (Reuters) — Britain's largest oil pipeline could shut down for weeks for unscheduled repair work, sending the price of crude to new 2-yr highs and triggering a steep rally in natural gas prices, just as a cold snap sweeps the country.

CB&I to proceed services at petchem plant in Kazakhstan

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — CB&I announced it has received full notice to proceed by Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries Inc. (KPI) for the project management services for a propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH) and a polypropylene plant in the western Atyrau region of Kazakhstan.