Refining
US imports of Saudi crude highest since July 2008
US imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia climbed 45.7% from a year earlier in April to the highest level since July 2008, according to US government data. The rise in US imports from Saudi Arabia came as total crude oil imports from all sources declined in the month amid higher domestic production.
Vitol seals Swiss refinery purchase from Petroplus, plans July restart
Varo Holding SA, the joint venture between oil trader Vitol and investment firm AtlasInvest, has completed its purchase of the 68,000 bpd Cressier refinery and related assets in Switzerland from insolvent Swiss refiner Petroplus. Vitol says it will restart the plant in July.
Solazyme starts up Illinois renewable oil biorefinery
Renewable oil and bio-products company Solazyme said Friday that it commissioned its first fully-integrated biorefinery (IBR) in Peoria, Illinois, to produce algal oil. With the successful production of algal oil from the integrated facility this month, Solazyme has met its start-up goals for the facility on schedule.
ExxonMobil licenses methanol-gasoline technology to Sundrop biofuels plant
The biomass complex in Alexandria, Louisiana, will gasify forest waste supplemented with hydrogen produced from natural gas to make synthesis gas. The syngas then will be converted to methanol and fed into the MTG process, producing 3,500 bpd of renewable gasoline.
Valero idles two US ethanol plants on low margins
Valero suspended production last week at its Albion, Neb., ethanol plant, while its Linden, Ind., facility shut down production on Tuesday. Each plant has the capacity to produce 120 million gal/year of ethanol.
Wison, Hyundai nab EPC contract for Puerto la Cruz refinery in Venezuela
Consortium Hyundai-Wison will carry out engineering, procurement, construction and start-up assistance of the environmental units, auxiliary units and revamp of atmospheric distillation units of the deep conversion project. Facilities will be able to process heavy crude oil, with a capacity of 210,000 bpd.
Brazil ethanol industry needs years to recover lost production, says IEA
Brazil's ethanol industry will take several years to recover from recent production setbacks due to aging agricultural infrastructure and economic uncertainties, an official at the International Energy Agency said. Brazil's growers are struggling to bounce back from a bad crop in 2011-12
Shell, Vopak, Greenergy to buy Coryton UK refinery for use as terminal
Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Vopak and Greenergy have agreed to buy the majority of the assets of Petroplus’ Coryton refinery in England to turn it into an import and distribution terminal. The sale will be completed within several months, once the current refinery closure process has been concluded.
US oil, gas producers redeploy Gulf of Mexico staff as Debby weakens
Oil and gas producers in the US Gulf of Mexico moved to restaff their offshore operations and restart disrupted output Monday, as a weakening Tropical Storm Debby turned toward the western Florida coast. The National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 miles an hour.
Gazprom makes bid for BP stake in Russia TNK-BP
An arm of Russian state-controlled Gazprom has lodged a bid for BP's $25 billion stake in its venture in the country, The Sunday Times reports. The move will increase pressure on AAR, the group controlled by BP's Russian billionaire partners that owns the other half of TNK-BP, said the newspaper.
- Fertiglobe, Covestro and TA’ZIZ sign MoU to explore strategic ammonia collaboration 2/9
- S-Oil signs nearly $4-B PE marketing deal with SABIC 2/9
- Indonesia's Pertamina launches $7-B natural resources processing initiative 2/9
- Digital Exclusive: Innovative grassroots CDU-VDU configuration—Pioneering energy efficiency and net-zero pathways in modern refineries 2/9
- Update: Union agrees to U.S. refineries contract, averting nationwide strike 2/9
- Schneider Electric unveils EcoStruxure™ Foxboro software defined automation 2/9
