- Key Market Prices
- WTI Settles Lower at US$91.38/bbl
- Margins & Economics
- Buckeye to Purchase Vopak’s Outstanding 20% BORCO Stake
- U.S. Crude Inventories Seen Down on TAPS Outage
- Bharat Oman’s 2Q IPO to Fund Bina Refinery-Expansion Project
- PdVSA’s 2011 Capital Plan Slashed, Refinery Expansion Affected
- NYMEX WTI Settles Lower; ICE Brent Firms Slightly
- Fuels & Processing
- Fluor Books US$3.5-Billion Australian LNG-Export Project
- GE, Shenhua Ink Gasification JV Deal
- Neste Oil’s Porvoo Refinery Taps Headwaters HCAT Upgrading Technology
- Finland’s UPM May Build Biodiesel Refinery in Rauma or Strasbourg
- Alon Bakersfield Refinery Expected to Restart in Summer 2011
- Japan’s METI Spearheads Oil-Refining Efficiency Project
- Transportation & Logistics
- Latest Vehicle CO2 Reduction Scheme: Highway ‘Platooning’
- Condominiums Getting Into EV Recharge Game
Fuels & Processing
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Fluor Books US$3.5-Billion Australian LNG-Export Project
Texas-based Fluor Corp. announced January 18 that it has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from Santos Ltd. for its Gladstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland, Australia. Fluor’s EPC contract includes upstream facilities associated with the 7.8 million-ton-per-year LNG project that would extract and liquefy gas from coal deposits for eventual export to Asia and other global markets.
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GE, Shenhua Ink Gasification JV Deal
GE announced January 18 that it’s forming a new coal gasification joint venture (JV) with China coal giant Shenhua, focusing not only upon industrial coal-to-chemical projects but also integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and possibly coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels as well.
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Neste Oil’s Porvoo Refinery Taps Headwaters HCAT Upgrading Technology
Headwaters, Inc. announced January 18 that Neste Oil Corp.’s Porvoo refinery has become the first plant to commercially implement its HCAT heavy oil-upgrading technology. Following a lengthy evaluation of the technology, Neste Oil confirmed their intent to utilize the technology on an on-going commercial basis.
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Finland’s UPM May Build Biodiesel Refinery in Rauma or Strasbourg
Helsinki-based forestry and paper products manufacturer UPM has named Finland’s Rauma and France’s Strasbourg as finalists for siting a potential, €350 million (US$469 million) biofuel refinery.
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Alon Bakersfield Refinery Expected to Restart in Summer 2011
The latest on the Alon USA Bakersfield refinery conversion to a gasoil processing and finishing plant indicates that the plant start-up is anticipated in midyear 2011, according to a January 16 report by The Bakersfield Californian newspaper.As reported in Global Refining & Fuels Today on August, 11, 2010, the 65,000 barrel-per-day (b/d) Big West refinery will be integrated with Alon’s 54,000-b/d Paramount refinery in Los Angeles to process its vacuum gasoil into higher value products without the need to invest in a new hydrocracker.
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Japan’s METI Spearheads Oil-Refining Efficiency Project
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is heading-up a five-year project aiming to develop technologies to refine crude oil with greater efficiency in order to yield more gasoline, diesel and other high-value petroleum products, according to a January 14 Nikkei news service report.
Feature
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Green Charge: A Different ‘Smart’ Scheme for EV Recharging
While electric vehicles (EVs) are now becoming commercially available and EV recharging systems are starting to proliferate, many crucial questions remain about whether today’s electric grid can handle the extra load – and whether EV drivers will be stranded by unreliable or unavailable recharge systems.
Key Market Prices
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WTI Settles Lower at US$91.38/bbl
Transportation & Logistics
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Latest Vehicle CO2 Reduction Scheme: Highway ‘Platooning’
Volvo announced January 17 that researchers have found success in tests of a “platooning” scheme that aims to cut vehicle fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
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Condominiums Getting Into EV Recharge Game
Real estate developers in Japan are moving ahead with plans to build condominium complexes with electric vehicle (EV) recharge stations in parking lots and garages, according to a January 12 report from Nikkei news service.
Margins & Economics
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Buckeye to Purchase Vopak’s Outstanding 20% BORCO Stake
Vopak on January 17 said it will follow in the footsteps of First Reserve Corp. (FRC) and sell its equity stake in the Bahamas Oil Refining Company International Ltd. (BORCO) terminal to U.S.-based pipeline and storage operator, Buckeye Partners, L.P.
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U.S. Crude Inventories Seen Down on TAPS Outage
Preliminary forecasts predicted a decrease in U.S. crude inventories and rise in gasoline and distillate stockpiles in the week ended January 14.
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Bharat Oman’s 2Q IPO to Fund Bina Refinery-Expansion Project
Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. (BORL) plans an initial public offer (IPO) in May 2011 to generate capital for an expansion at its refinery at Bina, Madhya Pradesh in India. The grassroots refinery has not yet started up, but that is not a hindrance to the IPO or plans to expand it by 50% to 9 million tons per year (mtpy), according to a January 17 report by MoneyWire.
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PdVSA’s 2011 Capital Plan Slashed, Refinery Expansion Affected
Venezuelan state oil company, PdVSA, has slashed capital investment plans for 2011 by 61% from its previous goal, according to a January 17 ADPnews Latin America report.
Combined with sub-plan actual 2010 capital expenditures (capex), Hart Energy’s Refinery Tracker (RT) calculates that PdVSA’s 2010-2011 capex now appears to be than half of what was originally communicated in the company’s 2009 annual report. These cuts have refining sector implications.
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NYMEX WTI Settles Lower; ICE Brent Firms Slightly
NYMEX light sweet crude for February delivery closed at US$91.38 per barrel (/bbl), down 16¢ on January 18, after the International Energy Agency said supplies are ample, particularly in North America.
Public Policy
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U.S. President Signs Order to Modernize Regulations, Promote Economic Growth
President Barack Obama January 18 signed an executive order to modernize government and reduce unreasonable and burdensome regulations that are costing the U.S. growth and jobs.
