Global Refining & Fuels Today

Study: Electric Cars Viable Under Pay-per-Mile Business Model

A study from the University of California-Berkeley determined that electric cars may account for 64% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales by 2030.

U.S. DOT’s LaHood Stresses Reducing VMT

While increasing the corporate average fuel economy standards of cars and trucks will be one strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, another strategy is to reduce vehicle miles traveled, the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation told senators yesterday (July 14) at a Congressional hearing.

API Reminds Congress of Cap-and-Trade Cost Implications

The American Petroleum Institute reminded Congressional leaders yesterday that the climate change bill being discussed in the U.S. Senate could potentially raise gasoline prices up to $4/gal.

NYMEX Crude Down to $59.52/bbl

Sluggish fuels demand kept the price of the August NYMEX crude oil futures contract fixed at just over $59/bbl.

Ethanol Spot, Rack Prices Slide; Futures Firm

Ethanol spot and rack prices continued to decline yesterday, while futures managed to eke out a small gain in what traders described as a lackluster trading day.

Marathon: Refinery Throughput Down in Q2 2009

In its interim report on second quarter figures, Houston-based Marathon described its refining throughput for the second quarter 2009 as being 4% lower than the past year’s throughput.

Avoiding Increasing Refinery Cost Indices

For projects scheduled to be completed beyond 2012, many of the engineering and construction companies involved have been asked to rebid on the project because of decreases in certain cost factors. Nevertheless, overall costs are still relatively high, such that original project scope needs to be redefined as well.

Pilot Travel Centers to Merge with Flying J Asset

As part of the merger, Flying J and Pilot Travel Centers will merge their travel plaza business assets. Other Flying J assets, including Big West Oil, are not part of the merger.

Petrobras Awards Hydro-Desulfurization Unit Contract

Petrobras has awarded a contract to Skanska for work that will link a gasoline hydro-desulfurization unit with other facilities within Petrobras’ Recap refinery. The 53,000 barrel per day refinery has been recently modernized to process heavier feeds

Atlas Pipeline Partners Sells Okla. Gas Processing Plant to Penn Virginia

Penn Virginia Resource Partners acquired the Sweetwater II natural gas processing plant from Atlas Pipeline Partners for $22.6 million in cash.

Malaysia’s Merapoh Resources to Build 350,000 b/d Refinery

Merapoh Resources will sign a memorandum of understanding with the leaders in the Kedah state, which is where the refinery will be built.

Repair Work at Valero Refinery Continues

Repair work continues on the Valero St. Charles refinery in Norco, Louisiana. No startup date for the repaired units has been given, but the crude unit will be the first to restart, followed by the vacuum unit, then the coking unit.

ExxonMobil Plunges into Biofuel Arena Investing in SGI to Develop Photosynthetic Algae for Fuel

ExxonMobil will invest $600 million dollars with Synthetic Genomics Inc. to develop photosynthetic algae for biofuels production and scale up the process to a commercially viable level..

Magellan Inks Methanol Agreement for Australia

A “major methanol producer” has signed a heads-of-agreement deal with Magellan Petroleum for a proposed project in Australia.

Brief: Pemex Plans for New Refinery on Schedule

Pemex officials said the Hildago state government is expected to hand over plots of land for the refinery sometime next week.

Brief: Vietnamese Media Outlet Confirms Refinery Plans

State-run media in Vietnam confirmed plans that construction would start in September 2009 for the country’s third refinery.

Shell, Port Authorities, GM, U.S. DOE Partner in Hydrogen Station Opening

In conjunction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy, Shell representatives have opened the company’s second hydrogen filling station in the greater New York area. A third is scheduled to come online at the end of the month.

Williams Plans Mid-Atlantic Expansion of Transco Pipeline

Williams announced plans for a third expansion to its Transco natural gas pipeline, which runs from Texas to the Northeast. This new expansion would add delivery points in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.