Refining
Calumet, MDU to explore building diesel refinery in North Dakota
MDU Resources and Calumet say they will explore the feasibility of jointly building and operating a 20,000 bpd diesel refinery in southwestern North Dakota. Site selection, permitting, crude oil feed procurement, marketing and engineering studies are currently underway.
Lower crude exports from Iran could trigger 30% spike in oil prices - IMF
A halt of Iran's oil exports to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries could trigger a 20%-30% spike in oil prices, an International Monetary Fund official said. The EU last month said it would ban all purchases of oil from Iran for countries within the union.
ExxonMobil says oil, gas reserves higher in 2011
ExxonMobil said Thursday the company's 2011 proved oil-and-gas reserves inched up compared with the previous year. The bulk of reserves additions came from the Kearl Expansion Project in Canada, which totaled 1 billion oil-equivalent bbl. Additions were also made in the US, Nigeria and Indonesia.
Obama defends energy policy, blames Middle East turmoil for rising US gasoline
President Barack Obama defended his energy policy from Republican attacks that he has not done enough to counter the recent run-up in gasoline prices. Obama said that more drilling will not bring down the price at the pump. In fact, the US is producing more oil than at any time in the last eight years, he said.
Tesoro refinery workers reject USW labor contract, strike possible
Union workers at three more Tesoro refineries have rejected new labor contracts, setting up the potential for a strike. A general strike at Tesoro's refineries still negotiating could shut down 500,000 bpd of refining capacity, though it wouldn't spread to refineries run by other companies.
Chesapeake plans to double US production of oil, liquids by 2015
Chesapeake Energy said it plans to more than double its oil and liquids production by 2015 as the natural gas giant aims to become one of top five US oil producers. The company plans to produce about 250,000 bpd of oil and natural gas liquids by 2015, up from about 104,000 bpd in the fourth quarter.
Hess, PdVSA finish shutdown of Hovensa refinery venture in Virgin Islands
Hovensa completed the previously-announced shutdown of its 350,000 bpd refinery on the US Virgin Island of St. Croix, the company said. The oil-fuel refinery is a joint venture between oil company Hess and Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), the state-owned oil company of Venezuela.
API says more US oil needed to cut gasoline costs
John Felmy, chief economist with the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group, says the US must develop more of its own oil and natural gas and allow additional oil imports from Canada. "By far, the single biggest factor in today’s higher gasoline prices is the rising cost of crude oil," Felmy said.
SemGroup, Chesapeake, Gavilon form JV to build Oklahoma crude pipeline
A venture between SemGroup, Gavilon Midstream Energy and a Chesapeake Energy affiliate plans to build a 210-mile pipeline in western and north central Oklahoma to deliver crude oil to a storage facility in Cushing, Okla. Construction should begin in July and service is expected in the 2013 third quarter.
IEA says Europe can handle loss of Iranian oil
The EU could handle a sudden end to imports of Iranian oil because of changes already being made due to the coming ban on Iranian shipments, an IEA official said. But the official also warned that the standoff has the potential to hurt the global economy by pushing oil prices higher.
- Sinopec, Aramco start building $10-B petchem complex in China's Fujian province 11/18
- Clariant EnviCat N2O-S catalyst to cut CO2eq by 690,000 tpy at Hengli’s nitric acid plant in China 11/18
- Russia's Ilsky refinery has asked for gov't help over high rates, modernization 11/18
- North Dakota (U.S.) approves Summit Carbon pipeline permit 11/18
- China's oil refinery output falls from a year ago for a seventh month 11/18
- European oil giants step back from renewables path 11/18
