US Refiners Tighten Belts as Golden Era Fades
U.S. independent oil refiners, such as Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66, are shelving projects and tightening budgets, as a global glut of diesel and gasoline erodes profits, ending a golden era of high refining margins. For the past six years, U.S. refiners have spent billions of dollars on expansion, enjoying bumper profits fueled by growing domestic and global demand for gasoline and diesel amid rising supply of domestic crude. Now however, there are signs that the industry is gearing up for leaner times and…
CHS Montana Refinery Order for Technip
Technip was awarded a significant(*) contract by CHS Inc.(*) to provide proprietary technology and EPC(*) for a 40 thousand normal cubic meters per hour grassroots hydrogen plant at the CHS Refinery in Laurel, Montana, USA. The plant is part of the company’s ongoing upgrades to boost efficiency, increase diesel production and process additional crudes at its refinery. The design will utilize Technip's high efficiency top-fired steam reforming technology to produce high purity hydrogen and export steam as well as the latest nitrogen oxide reduction technology to ensure minimum emissions.
Green Plains Buys Idled Ethanol Plant in Virginia
Green Plains Inc has paid $18.25 million for the sole ethanol plant in Virginia, it said on Monday, the latest in a string of consolidations as vast supplies and low crude oil prices squeeze industry profits. Green Plains said it planned to spend another $6 million to $7 million for a corn oil extractor and other improvements at the plant, whose annual capacity is 62 million gallons. Located in Hopewell, south of the Richmond state capital, the facility was idled in August by Vireol Bio Energy LLC because it could not make enough profit.
North Dakota Ponders Oil Tax Questions
Showdown looms as North Dakota legislators mull oil levy sharing. North Dakota's legislature will decide how to divvy up oil tax revenue among the state's 53 counties, and whether to wave sales taxes on materials used to build natural gas pipelines and chemical plants in a biennial session starting on Tuesday. How to share lucrative tax revenue from booming oil production promises to be the most contentious part of the 80-day session, with politicians from the state's western oil producing counties clamoring for more money to build roads, schools and other infrastructure projects. North Dakota is the second-largest U.S.
CHS to Invest $406m in Montana Refinery
CHS Inc. announced today it will invest $406 million in its Laurel, Mont., refinery to boost efficiency and increase diesel production. "These projects, along with all of our ongoing major refining, distribution and storage investments, underscore our continued commitment to building the CHS energy platform," said Jay Debertin, CHS executive vice president and chief operating officer, Energy and Foods. The investments consist of related projects, some of which will begin this fall, and are expected to be completed in phases through 2019.
Oil Traffic may Delay US Fertilizer Shipments
Increasing use of railroads to ship crude oil could disrupt fertilizer cargo this spring as Midwest farmers prepare for planting, U.S. agriculture leaders warn, even as one railroad said on Monday it will take steps to ensure timely deliveries. The planting season is nearly at hand in states such as the Dakotas and Minnesota, where soybean, wheat and corn growers will lay millions of tonnes of fertilizers like nitrogen and potash that mostly arrive by train. Those supplies are not stockpiled near the fields and the farmers rely instead on steady deliveries by rail.
