Refining
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.
Delta closes on Pennsylvania refinery purchase
Delta Air Lines’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Monroe Energy, has completed its previously-announced deal to acquire the 185,000 bpd Trainer refinery complex from Phillips 66.
Global liquid fuels demand seen rising 0.9%/yr - EIA
Global liquid-fuels demand is expected to rise by 0.9% between 2010 and 2035, to 109.5 million bpd, with the world becoming more reliant on OPEC oil, according to a new US government forecast released on Monday. OPEC's share of world demand will rise to 41.9% in 2035 from 39.7% in 2010.
- Sinopec, Aramco start building $10-B petchem complex in China's Fujian 11/18
- Clariant EnviCat N2O-S catalyst to cut CO2eq by 690,000 tpy at Hengli’s nitric acid plant in China 11/18
- Neste and PCS to bring renewable solutions to Southeast Asia’s chemicals industry 11/18
- CTCI awarded $417-MM EPC contract to build ethylene storage in Qatar 11/15
- Russian refineries cut oil runs due to losses, closures loom 11/15
- Spain's Moeve swings to quarterly loss on weak refining margins 11/15
