A compelling case for a downward trend on domestic U.S. refining margins was made in a July 22 Bloomberg report which cited numerous energy analysts alongside bleak energy and economic indicators. The unanimous sentiment was for slack refining margins ahead. Without sustained economic improvement or a hurricane to take out supply or tighten inventories, “crack spreads could go to very, very low levels,” stated one source in the report.

In the second quarter of 2010, US$7.7 billion in deal flow by venture investors were tracked by Dow Jones VentureSource. Energy deals figured prominently.

HSBC, Europe’s most highly valued bank, and Total, Europe’s largest refiner, are joining together to extend their efforts and client bases in energy trading, according to a July 23 report from Bloomberg.

As first featured in the July 15 issue of Hart Energy’s Refinery Tracker, we noted evidence of a broad-based secular upswing in the petroleum marketing segment of the downstream industry. A new study of domestic U.S. petroleum marketing presents data showing “retail gasoline operators enjoyed their best January-to-June period for gross margins in this century,” according to a report by VerticalNews.com covering the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) study. Words like ‘hostile takeover bid’ are even being mentioned in the same sentence as “fuel marketer.”

Environmental regulators in the state of Iowa have contacted regulators from the neighboring state of South Dakota about cross-border pollution concerns that may one day emanate from Hyperion Refining LLC’s planned grassroots refinery located just a few miles from the shared border, according to a July 15 report by The Des Moines Register. This is exactly the issue put forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its recent Proposed Transport Rule which paradoxically does not include the state of South Dakota within its purview. Will the environmentalist lexicon soon include “NAMBO” (not along my border) along with its long-used “NIMBY” acronym (not in my back yard)?

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has given anti-tar sands activists time to cheer after reportedly granting an unspecified delay of at least several months to a multi-year process to permit and to approve the 1,700-mile Keystone Pipeline Expansion project that would double Canadian tar sands crude imports into U.S. refineries. The proposed pipeline’s owner, TransCanada, "may not get a decision now until early 2011, which means that our construction schedule is being impacted by six weeks to 45 days," said company spokesman Terry Cunha within a July 26 Dow Jones report. Recent events in Michigan may add uncertainty to that schedule.

According to a press release on July 26, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a legal challenge to the June 30 disallowance of the state’s flexible permits by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This may not be the last such legal challenge, and the state’s governor Rick Perry strongly supports the move by his Attorney General.

The Zorco Refinery seeks partners in Libya, raises capital expenditure estimate.

Asia refining project news flow remains strong with reports from Mongolia, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia.

Refiners operating in Turkey and Russia announce expansion and contract news, while ConocoPhillips cancels a refinery upgrade project and instead puts German plant up for sale.

Ecopetrol Unveils US$80 Billion Integrated Investment Plan through 2020

Syria and China to partner to build US$2 billion refinery, Oman’s Sohar refinery seeks to expand, contracts awarded for Yanbu’ Refinery by Saudi Aramco emphasize local sourcing, and Iran is targeting US$46 billion in refinery investments.

News from North America on a diesel oriented expansion at the BP Cherry Point refinery in Washington state and the latest and potentially final word on the Shell Refinery-to-Terminal (RTT) conversion in Montreal, Canada.