Europe
INEOS workers vote to strike at Grangemouth refinery in Scotland
More than 81% of workers at INEOS' Grangemouth refinery in Scotland have voted to strike, according to a Friday news release from local trade union group Unite. The Grangemouth refinery can process 210,000 bpd of crude, with roughly 30% of its output as distillates, according to Bloomberg.
Total to lower investments starting in 2014, could cut refining capacity
In a briefing with media ahead of a meeting with investors and analysts, Total's chief financial officer Patrick de la Chevardiere noted that the group is considering cutting capacities at some refineries. "We're going to adapt our footprint to European demand," he said, without elaborating.
Norway nixes big carbon capture project at Statoil refinery in Mongstad
The project has been both challenging and costly, and the risks are now seen as too big to go through with it, the government said. Statoil said it has no plans to shut down the refinery, which ran a surplus in 2012 for the first time in years, and was going through a cost savings program.
European refining sector needs further closures
Europe's refining businesses must slim down further and then pump billions of dollars into what remains, according to the head of European refining trade group Europia.
Finland’s Neste Oil plans to exit shipping business
Under the plan, Neste Oil will sell five tankers and three tugs to companies owned by Finland's National Emergency Supply Agency and the Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company.
Foster Wheeler to help upgrade Russian Far East refinery in Khabarovsk
The objective of the project is to produce more higher-value, lighter products. The complex includes a hydrocracker, hydrotreater, hydrogen unit, amine regeneration unit, sour water stripper, sulfur recovery unit, vapor recovery unit, waste water treatment unit, ground flare, tank farm and pump houses.
Neste Oil, Raisioagro research straw feedstock to produce renewable diesel
Microbial oil technology enables straw to be used as a feedstock for producing NExBTL renewable diesel. Neste Oil has tested processing of straw for some years, and pilot-scale microbial oil production trials were started last year when Europe's first microbial oil pilot plant was commissioned at Porvoo.
US to bypass Russia in liquid fuels production
The US is set to bypass Russia in the production of liquid fuels such as crude and ethanol this quarter, the IEA said, as global demand for oil is rising faster than expected.
Europe to cap biofuels in transport fuel mix at 6%
The European Parliament passed a bill to limit the amount of transport fuel such as gasoline and diesel that can be obtained from food and energy crops to 6% of total energy consumed for transport by 2020.
Poland delays LNG terminal, shows support for coal
The terminal, now due for completion at the end of 2014, and the development of Poland's shale gas deposits are important components of the government's strategy to reduce the country's dependence on natural gas imports from Russia. The country also wants to lower its carbon dioxide emissions.
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