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Refining

Refinery watch: Planned and unplanned US outages (1)

Citgo Petroleum shut down several units June 12 at its refinery in Lemont, Ill., after the facility was struck by lightning, according to a government filing. Several units at Marathon Petroleum's 80,000 bpd refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained off line June 10 following a leak at the refinery's FCCU.

Sasol awards engineering work to KBR for synfuels complex in South Africa

The EPCm services to be provided by KBR entail all the management services required in order to restore the integrity of the gaseous oxygen compressor. Financial details were not disclosed by the firms.

Technip wins process design work on new Finland biomass-to-liquid plant

Technip will develop the process design package of the hydrogen production unit of the plant, based on its steam reformer proprietary technology, and will prepare the FEED for the hydrogen production, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and refining units. Work is scheduled to be completed in early 2014.

BP awards environmental consulting pact to AMEC for global refining work

AMEC has an existing environmental services framework contract with BP in North America, and this latest award effectively forms a global agreement for environmental services between the two companies. The value of the contract, which will run until to 2017, has not been announced.

BP sees US oil production rising at record pace

In its world energy review, BP revealed that 2012 had the largest single-year increase ever seen in the US, largely from unconventional hydrocarbons such as tight oil. This illustrates an example of the increasing diversity of energy sources as the global market continues to adapt and evolve.

Petrobras mulls Northeast Brazil refinery venture with Korea's GS Energy

Brazil currently suffers from a refining shortfall. Petrobras's plans to build the refinery, called Premium 2, have been pushed back to 2017 or 2018 as the company focuses its $237 billion investment plan through 2016 on boosting crude oil production and development of ultra-deepwater offshore fields.

Phillips 66 to sell Ireland's only oil refinery

Phillips 66 is selling its downstream businesses in Ireland, including the Whitegate refinery in Cork. The move reflects the challenges refiners are facing in Europe, where lower demand for fuel and higher costs of feedstock have put pressure on profits and led some companies to close down plants.

China's CNPC to join key Ecuador refining project

CNPC Chairman Zhou Jiping had signed a framework agreement with Ecuador's Coordinating Minister for Strategic Sectors and Petroecuador's President, under which CNPC "will take a share in the construction of the Pacific Refinery project and participate in the exploration and development."

Neste Oil to buy algae oils from Cellana to use as biofuels feedstock

The agreement will enable Neste Oil to purchase Cellana's algae oil for use as a feedstock in the future for producing renewable fuel. The deal is contingent on Cellana's future production capacity and on compliance with future biofuel legislation in the EU and US, among other factors.

Petrobras delays Comperj refinery startup to 2016

Speaking during an event Friday, Petrobras CEO Maria das Gracas Foster said environmental license issues and changes to the refinery's design were the reasons for the delay. The Comperj refinery will have installed capacity to process 165,000 bpd of crude oil when it first enters operation.