- Key Market Prices
- Key Market Prices
- Public Policy
- 11 U.S. Governors Sign Low-Carbon Fuel Standard MOU
- French Court Kills CO2 Tax Scheme
- CARB Sets Jan. 20 Workshop on Low Carbon Fuel Standard
- Margins & Economics
- Chesapeake, Total Agree to US$2.25B Barnett Joint Venture
- Cold Temperatures Raise WTI Crude Futures above US$81
- S&P Industry Report Card: Mixed Prospects
- Fuels & Processing
- PDVSA and Eni Form JV for Junin 5 Block
- The Plaza Group Renews Contract with Frontier Oil
- Refinery Pressure Relief System Awarded U.S. Patent
- Biomass-to-Liquid Demonstration Plant to Start Up in Austria
- Joint Agreement to Provide Testing Capabilities for Fuel Processors
- India’s Bharat Petroleum to Miss Euro-4 Deadline
Fuels & Processing
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PDVSA and Eni Form JV for Junin 5 Block
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) is forming a joint venture with Italy's Eni to extract and refine up to 240,000 barrels per day from the Junin 5 block of the Orinoco belt.
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The Plaza Group Renews Contract with Frontier Oil
Executives with The Plaza Group said Jan. 4 they have renewed a multiyear contract with Frontier Oil to serve as the exclusive marketer of benzene produced at Frontier’s El Dorado, Kansas, refining facility.
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Refinery Pressure Relief System Awarded U.S. Patent
A new web-based pressure relief software system is designed to simplify troubleshooting and assist in documenting the history and sequence of changes to refinery process systems. Design and sizing of overpressure equipment, safety and change management, and regulatory documentation can therefore be implemented on a company-wide basis.
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Biomass-to-Liquid Demonstration Plant to Start Up in Austria
BTL demonstration plant starting up in early 2010 will be operated on wood chips. According to Oxford Catalysts, one of the project’s most important objectives is to evaluate the technology’s effectiveness for synthetic jet fuel production.
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Joint Agreement to Provide Testing Capabilities for Fuel Processors
Topsøe Fuel Cell and HTE Aktiengesellschaft have jointly developed a proprietary system for testing various fuel processing components. The unit has recently passed the factory acceptance test and has now been installed at Topsøe Fuel Cell’s pilot plant.
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India’s Bharat Petroleum to Miss Euro-4 Deadline
A report from Reuters posted to the Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. Web site revealed that the refiner won’t begin producing Euro-4 (50-ppm sulfur maximum) diesel and gasoline until June 2010, two months beyond the Indian government deadline.
Feature
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RWE Teams-up on CO2-Biomass Recycling Scheme
Germany-based RWE Power officials announced Jan. 4 that they’ve joined forces with biotech developer Brain AG (also of Germany) to tap power-plant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as feedstock for microbial biomass, for possible biochemical applications.The joint project is hosted by RWE’s “Coal Innovation Center” in Niederaussem, Germany, adjacent to a coal-fired power plant. This plant is already capturing CO2 from flue gas.
Key Market Prices
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Key Market Prices
Transportation & Logistics
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Global Auto Sales to Rebound This Year: Scotia Economics
Scotia Economics officials unveiled Dec. 29 a new report finding that “cyclical recovery in global auto sales began in the spring of 2009 and will gain momentum in the new year.”
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Bosch to Invest US$423 Million in India Diesel; Gets ‘Nano’ Deal
Bosch officials announced Jan. 4 that they’ll invest some US$423 million in Indian operations between 2010 to 2012, mostly focused on diesel engine systems.
Margins & Economics
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Chesapeake, Total Agree to US$2.25B Barnett Joint Venture
Chesapeake Energy continued to increase liquidity and finance future drilling and completion costs in what it calls the Big Four shales by reaching a $2.25 billion agreement to sell a 25% interest in its Barnett production assets to France’s Total.
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Cold Temperatures Raise WTI Crude Futures above US$81
Cold weather in the northern hemisphere helped raise crude futures prices above US$80 Jan. 4. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery settled at $81.51 per barrel (bbl), 2.81% higher than Dec. 30 – the last price recorded before the New Year’s holiday. Brent crude for February delivery also closed higher at $80.12/bbl, up 2.68%.
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S&P Industry Report Card: Mixed Prospects
The outlook for much of the U.S. oil and gas sector looks uncertain heading into 2010, according to a Standard & Poor's Ratings Services’ industry report card published Dec. 31, 2009.
Public Policy
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11 U.S. Governors Sign Low-Carbon Fuel Standard MOU
Eleven governors in the U.S. Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region on Dec. 30 signed a memo of understanding obligating them to develop a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) scheme by 2011, mostly following in the footsteps of LCFS pioneer, California.
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French Court Kills CO2 Tax Scheme
France’s Constitutional Court on Dec. 30 overturned a carbon dioxide tax proposed by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, according to a report from EUobserver news service (Brussels).
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CARB Sets Jan. 20 Workshop on Low Carbon Fuel Standard
California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials announced last week that they’re holding a workshop on the agency’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) Jan. 20 in Sacramento.
