- Regulation & Legislation
- U.S. Appeals Court Rejects PMSA Arguments over CARB Marine Diesel Fuel Rules
- ATA Slams Biodiesel Lobby for Tax Schemes Penalizing Renewable Diesel
- India Aims to Freeze Subsidy on Price-Controlled Diesel Sales
- DTF Reaction to Obama Energy Speech: Recognize Diesel Efficiency
- Technology
- Neste Wins €50-Million Loan from Nordic Investment Bank for Renewables R&D
- Scania Debuts Euro-6 Diesel Trucks 2 Years Ahead of Deadline
- Pinnacle Touts ‘Ultra-Efficient’ Multi-Fuel Engine
- Cat, BAE Team Up on Truck Parallel Hybrid Drive
- Dynamotive Extends MoU on Py-Oil with IFP-Energies Nouvelles
- ULSD Expansion Helps Drive Sulfur-Analyzer Market
- Distillate Markets
- ‘Renewable Diesel’ Can More Profitable than Biodiesel for US EPA’s RFS-2
- Petrobras ‘ProFlex’ Scheme Boosting Diesel Output at Relatively Low Cost
- U.S. Diesel Demand to Recover to 2007 Levels by 2015 – Forecast
- Sub-Par Catalyst Performance Triggers Preem Decision to Shut Mild Hydrocracker
- Global Refiner Return-on-Investment to Weaken Because of New Capacity
- Market Report: Distillates Continue Climb, but Top Seen Nearing
- Distillate Watch
- Transport News
- Volvo: 8% Better Diesel Fuel Efficiency in Latest Trucks
- Relatively Cheap CNG, LNG Gaining at Diesel’s Expense in U.S.
- Allison: Global Bus Market Improving; Diesel Hybrid-Electrics Growing
- Volvo Boosting Truck Production, Recalls 700 U.S. Workers
- ACEA: EU Commercial Vehicle Sales up 16.8% in Feb. 2011 vs. Feb. 2010
Regulation & Legislation
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U.S. Appeals Court Rejects PMSA Arguments over CARB Marine Diesel Fuel Rules
The Ninth U.S. Appeals Court on March 28 rejected a summary-judgment petition from Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) that tried to block California Air Resources Board (CARB) rules requiring lower-sulfur marine bunker fuel for ocean ships operating near or in California ports.
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ATA Slams Biodiesel Lobby for Tax Schemes Penalizing Renewable Diesel
American Trucking Associations (ATA) President Bill Graves told the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee in testimony March 31 that the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biodiesel lobby is hobbling competition from higher-quality, all-hydrocarbon renewable diesel because of lobbied provisions in U.S. tax law.
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India Aims to Freeze Subsidy on Price-Controlled Diesel Sales
India’s government aims to freeze the amount of compensation it gives to state-owned oil refiner-retailers on money-losing diesel sales by June 2011, following elections in five states.
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DTF Reaction to Obama Energy Speech: Recognize Diesel Efficiency
In response to a renewed call from U.S. President Barack Obama to cut U.S. dependence on imported oil and move toward alternative fuels and powertrains, Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) responded that U.S. policymakers ought to recognize the superior energy efficiency of diesel power.
Technology
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Neste Wins €50-Million Loan from Nordic Investment Bank for Renewables R&D
Neste Oil announced March 28 that it has won a €50-million (US$70-million) loan from Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) “to fund further research on extending the range of raw materials used for producing Neste Oil’s renewable diesel.”
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Scania Debuts Euro-6 Diesel Trucks 2 Years Ahead of Deadline
Scania announced April 1 that it is ready today to start selling diesel trucks in Europe meeting Euro-6 standards that don’t take effect until 2014.
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Pinnacle Touts ‘Ultra-Efficient’ Multi-Fuel Engine
California-based Pinnacle Engines announced March 31 that it’s working with an unidentified Asian original equipment maker on a 2013 commercialization launch for an “ultra-efficient” engine capable of running on a variety of fuels including diesel and gasoline.
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Cat, BAE Team Up on Truck Parallel Hybrid Drive
BAE Systems announced March 31 that it signed a joint development agreement with Caterpillar on a parallel hybrid propulsion system for heavy-duty trucks.
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Dynamotive Extends MoU on Py-Oil with IFP-Energies Nouvelles
British Columbia-based Dynamotive Energy Systems announced March 29 that it has extended a memo of understanding (MoU) with IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) to research a “hydro-reforming” scheme that potentially could upgrade bio-based pyrolysis oils to mobile fuels.
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ULSD Expansion Helps Drive Sulfur-Analyzer Market
New York-based XOS reported March 29 that Sinopec hosted the installation of its 1,000th “Sindie 7039” fuel sulfur analyzer, a market being pushed in part by the expansion of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) mandates.
Feature
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Europe to Ban Diesel, Gasoline Cars by 2050
The European Commission on March 28 unveiled a “white paper” on transport policy recommending a complete ban on all gasoline and diesel-powered cars in European cities by 2050 and a 50% cut on such vehicles by 2030.
Transport News
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Volvo: 8% Better Diesel Fuel Efficiency in Latest Trucks
Volvo Trucks announced March 31 that new technologies enable an 8% fuel efficiency gain in its latest diesel trucks compared with 2007 diesel engines, “with additional gains possible through the use of new fleet management and driver development tools.”
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Relatively Cheap CNG, LNG Gaining at Diesel’s Expense in U.S.
Compared to the soaring price of diesel fuel, relatively cheap natural gas in North America is prodding more fleets and heavy-duty vehicle makers to offer compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines and vehicles.
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Allison: Global Bus Market Improving; Diesel Hybrid-Electrics Growing
Heavy vehicle equipment maker Allison Transmission reported March 30 record-breaking sales to the global city bus and coach market in 2010, including 15,000 automatic transmissions and more than 1,000 hybrid-electric drive trains.
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Volvo Boosting Truck Production, Recalls 700 U.S. Workers
Volvo Trucks North America announced March 30 that it’s recalling 700 workers at its Virginia plant in order to ramp-up production in response to rising demand.
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ACEA: EU Commercial Vehicle Sales up 16.8% in Feb. 2011 vs. Feb. 2010
New commercial vehicle registrations (sales) rose to 141,914 units in the European Union (EU) in February 2011, or 16.8% more than in February 201, according to the ACEA, the European vehicle-makers’ trade association.
Distillate Markets
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‘Renewable Diesel’ Can More Profitable than Biodiesel for US EPA’s RFS-2
Refiner hydroprocessing of bio-based feedstocks (such as vegetable oils and animal fats) into all-hydrocarbon “renewable diesel” (RD) is well-known for yielding a pipeline-fungible product that’s superior in quality to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biodiesel.
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Petrobras ‘ProFlex’ Scheme Boosting Diesel Output at Relatively Low Cost
Petrobras is moving to overcome its chronic diesel supply deficit (currently made-up by imports) with a “ProFlex” refinery optimization program running through 2015.
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U.S. Diesel Demand to Recover to 2007 Levels by 2015 – Forecast
San Antonio – Recession-battered diesel demand in the U.S. market should recover to 2007 levels by 2015, topping 4 million barrels per day (b/d), according to a new forecast by refiner consultants Purvin & Gertz.
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Sub-Par Catalyst Performance Triggers Preem Decision to Shut Mild Hydrocracker
Sweden-based Preem announced March 28 that it is shutting down its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) for inspection work and its mild hydrocracker (MHC) unit for early catalyst replacement, with both jobs scheduled for completion between March 29 and April 23.
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Global Refiner Return-on-Investment to Weaken Because of New Capacity
Refiner return-on-investment in conversion capacity is expected to weaken between now and 2015 because of new capacity coming on-line, according to the latest Purvin & Gertz Global Petroleum Market Outlook 2011.
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Market Report: Distillates Continue Climb, but Top Seen Nearing
Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) prices in major spot and futures markets continued to climb last week but began to show signs of topping-off in futures markets.
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Distillate Watch
Distillate prices continued to rise last week, but signs of topping-out started to appear.
