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Crude oil

KBR wins FEED work to raise US refinery's capacity to handle heavy crudes

During the feasibility phase, KBR’s expertise will focus on determining the optimum economic configuration to increase overall heavy crude processing capability and flexibility. The refinery currently processes light sweet crudes and aims to take advantage of fluctuations in the crude oil pricing market.

New TransCanada pipeline to carry crudes from Alberta to East Canada

TransCanada plans to seek regulatory approval for the project from Canada's National Energy Board by the end of the year, and, if it succeeds, to start construction in 2016. Service to refineries in Montreal and Quebec City would begin the following year and then to Saint John in 2018.

HP Boxscore Construction Analysis: Outlook for major revamp projects—Part 2

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Worldwide, refiners are investing billions in upgrading and modernizing projects. These efforts are focused on:Increasing flexibility to process heavier, sourer crudesImproving energy efficiencyMeetin..

HP Brief

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Train accident raises concerns on safetyThe train derailment that killed at least 38 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, has heightened safety concerns about crude oil shipments by rail. It has been ..

HP Impact: Dilbit poses no extra pipeline risk

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Diluted bitumen (dilbit) has no greater likelihood of accidental pipeline release than other crude oils, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report found that diluted bitumen has..

HP Impact: Canada takes steps to enhance its pipeline system

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources recently announced the government’s plan to further enhance the country’s pipeline system by requiring companies operating major pipelines to have..

US oil, shale gas pioneer George Mitchell dies at 94

George Mitchell helped develop new technology for hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, which he used to tap oil & gas at the Barnett Shale in North Texas during the 1980s and 1990s.

Soft refining margins may cut Asian crude demand

Singapore's complex cracking margins have softened to around $3.53/bbl, from around $6.34/bbl a week earlier, data from JBC Energy showed, as margins for gasoil and kerosene fall from seasonal highs.

US monthly oil demand plummets to 16-year low as gasoline use drops

Demand for gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product in the world's biggest oil consumer, fell 1.9% from a year earlier to a 12-year June low of 8.865 million bpd, according to the API. Second-quarter gasoline use was 2% lower than in the same period in 2012, at 8.775 million bpd.

Linde, Sapphire Energy to develop algae-to-crude process technology

Together, the companies will refine the hydrothermal treatment process developed and operated today by Sapphire Energy at pilot scale. In addition, they will jointly license and market the technology into an expanded list of industries, including algae, municipal solid waste and farm waste.