- Key Market Prices
- WTI Ends at Six-Month Low; Natural Gas Gains 4.7%
- Public Policy
- CRC Study Finds E15 Damages Vehicle Engines
- Margins & Economics
- U.S. Crude Stocks Rise to 21-Year High; Products Fall
- Crude Futures Retreat US$1.71/bbl on High Inventories
- Pacific Ethanol Extends, Increases Credit Facility
- Fuels & Processing
- Asia-Pacific Demand to Boost Global Petcoke Output
- Siemens, Others Develop Alternative to ABS Polymer
- British Columbia Export Facility Gets Green Light
- Neste Oil Touts Fish-Fat ‘NExBTL’ for U.S., EU Renewable Fuels
- Excelerate to Build First Floating U.S. LNG Export Plant
- Electric Power
- U.S. DOE: 1,200 Fuel Cells Deployed with Recovery Funds
- Transportation & Logistics
- CTL Diesel Would Cost Up to US$3.27/Gal - NETL Study
Fuels & Processing
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Asia-Pacific Demand to Boost Global Petcoke Output
The supply of fuel-grade petroleum coke (petcoke) is forecast to increase by around 60% over the next four years and could reach 200 million tonnes, according to a May 16 Argus report citing French cement producer Lafarge.
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Siemens, Others Develop Alternative to ABS Polymer
In cooperation with project partners from BASF, Munich Technical University and the University of Hamburg, scientists at Siemens’ global research unit have developed a renewable alternative to standard polystyrene-based acrylonitrite-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer, a material commonly used in consumer products.
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British Columbia Export Facility Gets Green Light
Royal Dutch Shell plc, Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), Mitsubishi Corp. and PetroChina Co. Ltd. announced May 15 that they are developing a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Western Canada, near Kitimat, British Columbia.
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Neste Oil Touts Fish-Fat ‘NExBTL’ for U.S., EU Renewable Fuels
Neste Oil announced May 15 that it’s expanding feedstocks for its “NExBTL” renewable diesel plant Singapore, this time using fish-fat production waste – which enables “renewable fuel standard” compliance under European Union (EU) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.
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Excelerate to Build First Floating U.S. LNG Export Plant
Excelerate Energy is moving forward with the development of the first floating liquefaction facility in the United States utilizing its floating liquefaction storage offloading vessel (FLSO) technology, the company announced May 15.
Feature
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In Nuclear Recess: Japan Idles Last Atomic Reactor
Before last year’s devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, Japan had planned to meet its carbon emissions reduction targets on the assumption that it would rely on nuclear power – long considered a steady, low-emissions source of energy.
Key Market Prices
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WTI Ends at Six-Month Low; Natural Gas Gains 4.7%
Electric Power
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U.S. DOE: 1,200 Fuel Cells Deployed with Recovery Funds
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced May 14 that almost 1,200 fuel cells have been deployed in the U.S. thanks to funding from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Transportation & Logistics
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CTL Diesel Would Cost Up to US$3.27/Gal - NETL Study
The required selling price (RSP) of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel produced at a notional U.S. coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant would be in the range of US$2.68 to $3.27 per gallon (/gal), according to an updated study for U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
Margins & Economics
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U.S. Crude Stocks Rise to 21-Year High; Products Fall
U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels – exceeding analyst forecasts – and refined product stockpiles showed sizeable drawdowns, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report in the week ended May 11.
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Crude Futures Retreat US$1.71/bbl on High Inventories
NYMEX light, sweet crude for June delivery ended at $92.81 per barrel (/bbl), down $1.17 on May 16, in response to the weekly supply statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing crude inventories rising for the eighth consecutive week.
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Pacific Ethanol Extends, Increases Credit Facility
California-based ethanol producer Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced on May 8 it had extended a credit facility for its subsidiary, Kinergy Marketing LLC, according to a statement issued by Pacific Ethanol.
Public Policy
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CRC Study Finds E15 Damages Vehicle Engines
Two popular gasoline engines in recent-model cars showed mechanical damage from a fuel blend of unleaded gasoline and 15% ethanol, according to a study by a nonprofit research group backed by the petroleum and auto industries.
