Recent EU legislative proposals on energy efficiency pose “a substantial risk of leaving many regions and probably countries without indigenous refineries,” warns a new report published by Europia, the European petroleum industry association.

On Wednesday September 21, Hart Energy hosted its conference, “The Future of Transportation Fuels in the U.S.,” which raised plenty of questions and discussion from automotive and refining industry attendees and panelists on the uncertain future paths toward improved transportation energy solutions.

ExxonMobil Chemical announced September 21 that it will build a world-scale facility to manufacture its metallocene polyalphaolefin (mPAO) synthetic lubricant base stocks at its integrated refining and chemical complex in Baytown, Texas.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on September 20 unveiled a new technology “roadmap” for slashing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sources – including oil refining.

Houston-based Accelergy announced September 28 a partnership with China-based Yankuang Group for a proposed 68,000 barrel-per-day (b/d) “hybrid” coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant in Erdos, Inner Mongolia, China.

In a September 27 webinar organized by Hart Energy, experts from three companies specializing in technologies for converting natural gas to liquids (GTL), biomass to liquids (BTL) and coal to liquids (CTL) showed that numerous projects are emerging in all shapes and sizes, for a variety of reasons.

LyondellBasell announced September 27 that it failed to find a buyer for its 105,000 barrels-per-day oil refinery in Berre, France.

Neste Oil officials told a Capital Markets Day conference September 21 in Rotterdam that the outlook for refining margins has improved.

ConocoPhillips announced September 27 that it is seeking a buyer for its 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Trainer, Penn., and associated pipelines and terminals.

Increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and the growing contribution of renewable energy in “developed” regions such as North America and Europe are not compensating for increased carbon-dioxide emissions (CO2) from growing demand for power and transport in “developing” countries, according to a new report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC).

Sasol announced September 19 that it signed an investment agreement with partners Uzbekneftegaz and Petronas for a 1. 4 million ton-per-year, gas-to-liquids (GTL) Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel, kerosene and naphtha project in Uzbekistan.

Williams on September 20 announced that its board of directors has approved an expansion of its Geismar olefins production facility, south of Baton Rouge, La., that will increase the facility's ethylene production capacity by 600 million pounds per year to a new annual capacity of 1.95 billion pounds. It is expected to be placed into service in the third quarter of 2013.

Neste Oil announced September 20 that it has now started-up Europe’s largest renewable diesel plant at Rotterdam, Netherlands.

These charts show biweekly activity of the ICE Brent Futures and ICE Gas Oil Futures from September 20 to October 4.

An “overwhelming” majority of electric-vehicle (EV) drivers will prefer to recharge their vehicles at home, according to a new study by Atlanta-based electric utility research firm Chartwell.

Sweden takes top honors, according to Hart Energy’s International Fuel Quality Center’s (IFQC) annual global ranking of diesel sulfur standards. In fact, all of the EU’s 27 members can all be found among the global leaders, joined at the top by Japan at No. 3.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on September 19 released its International Energy Outlook 2011 (IEO2011), which includes updated projections for world energy markets through 2035.

A new report from Pike Research forecasts that the recent investments in fuel cell technology, particularly in Japan, Korea and China, along with the increasing adoption of fuel cells for a range of applications, will result in a burgeoning market within Asia Pacific that will reach US$6.7 billion by 2017, up from just $52.8 million in 2011.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest Oil Market Report (released September 13) projects that – thanks to continuing economic gloom – global oil demand growth will continue to slip in 2011 and 2012 compared to prior IEA forecasts.

A new study by the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) finds that ships switching from high-sulfur to low-sulfur bunker fuel not only would produce lower ambient sulfuric-oxide (SOX) emissions but also (surprisingly) lower “black-carbon” emissions blamed for “global warming.”

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have concluded in a new study that surplus U.S. natural gas should be used for electricity generation rather than turned into compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) for transport vehicles.