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Europe

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.

Eni targets plastics purchase in strategy shift

MILAN (Reuters) — Energy firm Eni aims to express an interest in bidding for an Italian bioplastics business in a move that underlines a longer-term desire to hedge its exposure to oil and gas, financial sources said.

Clariant selected for new propane dehydrogenation unit in China

MUNICH — Clariant, a company in specialty chemicals, announced an agreement with Xuzhou HaiDing Chemical Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a custom-built CATOFIN catalyst and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in cooperation with its technology partner CB&I.

Trafigura buys downstream oil assets in Argentina

LONDON (Reuters) — Commodities trader Trafigura said it has agreed to buy an oil refinery, more than 250 service stations, a lubricants plant and fuel storage terminal in Argentina from Pampa Energia SA.

Russian oil refining seen at 280 MMt in 2017, 2018

MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russian oil refining is expected at around 280 MMt this year, remaining at around the same levels in 2018, deputy energy minister Kirill Molodtsov told reporters.