Powerful Earthquake Shuts Down Fifth of Japan's Oil Refining Capacity
Japanese refiners led by the biggest, Eneos Corp, shut down a fifth of the country's crude oil refining capacity after a powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan knocking out power, bullet train lines and injuring more than 150 people.The refinery shutdowns in the world's fourth-biggest oil importer are another potential hit after the pandemic led to the evaporation of crude demand over the last year.As much as 743,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil-processing capacity has been idled…
Prime Minister Modi: India to Double Refining Capacity in 5 Years
India plans to nearly double its oil refining capacity in the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, offering a much more aggressive timeline than previously despite the coronavirus pandemic blighting the economy.The country's energy minister was quoted http://www.ficci.in/ficci-in-news-page.asp?nid=23094 in June as saying India's oil refining capacity could jump to 450-500 million tonnes in 10 years from the current level of about 250 million tonnes.But addressing a petroleum university's convocation…
Japan's Refiners Facing Stagnant Market May Cut Capacity
Japanese refineries may be forced to shut down capacity once again unless they see a strong recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. They've been hit by declining use for fuel at home, competition from newer refineries in China and South Korea dominating in other markets, as well. Idemitsu Kosan on Tuesday reported an annual loss, like its competitors have done in recent days. Executive Officer Noriaki Sakai said Japan's second-biggest refiner expects fuel sales to fall…
Oil Refining Capacity to Grow at Record Pace
Global oil refining capacity is set to increase at its fastest pace on record this year, possibly boosting stocks of products such as diesel, gasoline and marine fuel, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.Oil refining capacity will rise by 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) and demand for refined products by around 1.1 million bpd, the IEA said in a monthly report.It was not clear yet what that meant for margins, which slumped as the price of crude rose last year…
CNOOC Orient Petrochemicals Cuts Refinery Emissions
In a move to improve air quality in Hainan Province, China, the CNOOC Orient Petrochemicals Co. Ltd. recently commissioned a DuPont BELCO EDV Wet Scrubbing system at its oil refinery located on Hainan Island in the southernmost part of China. With the help of this system, the refinery minimizes atmospheric emissions of fine particulate and sulfur oxides (SOx) from its 1.2 million metric ton per annum (MMTA) fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), one of CNOOC’s major refining bases.
Hess Corp says Harvey Still Affects Production
Oil and gas producer Hess Corp reported a bigger loss and said production in the current quarter is still being hindered by the disruptions that Hurricane Harvey caused. Hess said last month that the downtime due to Harvey resulted in a loss of production of several thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter (boepd). On Wednesday, Hess said U.S. Gulf of Mexico production in the third quarter fell about 3.3 percent to 59,000 boepd, while total production, excluding Libya, fell 4.8 percent. Harvey tore through Corpus Christi in southern Texas on Aug.
Storms Exposes Shortcomings of Global Refining
Spare refining capacity has been shrinking; capacity utilisation climbing close to limits. Hurricane Harvey's crippling impact on U.S. oil refinery operations this month and the challenge buyers faced in filling the gap in gasoline supplies has exposed a shortage of spare refining capacity around the globe. Nearly a quarter of U.S. refining capacity was knocked out by the storm this month, driving U.S. gasoline prices to two-year highs above $2 a gallon. Many plants are still struggling to resume normal operations…
Harvey Throws a Wrench into US Energy Engine
A hurricane in the heart of the U.S. energy industry is expected to upend years of U.S. excess oil capacity and low prices, with the impact expected to reverberate globally and affect energy markets for weeks. Harvey hit the Texas shore as a fierce Category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding that knocked out 11.2 percent of U.S. refining capacity, a quarter of oil production from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and closed ports all along the Texas coast. Gasoline futures jumped…
Oil Firm Evacuate Workers as Storm Approaches Texas
Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas. Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall. Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100…
Iran, China Sign $3B Deal on Refining Capacity
Iran and China will sign a $3 billion contract next month to upgrade Iran's oil refining capacity, according to Iran's Mehr News agency. Iran's deputy oil minister Abbas Kazemi said in Tehran on Tuesday that the deal will focus on upgrading the Abadan oil refinery, Mehr said. "Last week, China officially opened the financing for the plan to fix and improve the quality of the Abadan refinery," Mehr quoted Kazemi as saying. Iran's refineries are in a state of disrepair after years of sanctions which prevented access to parts and new technology.
Kuwait Petroleum eyes Indian Refinery, Offers Feedstock
Kuwait Petroleum eyes 50 pct stake in Paradip refinery; Kuwait wants to supply 60 pct of refiner's oil needs. Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) aims to pick up a significant stake in Indian Oil Corp's Paradip refinery and supply about 60 percent of the oil needs of the plant, set to start up later this year, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. Gulf oil producers want to lock in customers in Asia, which is experiencing a wave of refinery expansion, as the U.S. shale boom has hit demand for their oil in Western economies.
PTT Global Seeks Refinery Partner
New refinery will triple capacity to 360,000 bpd from 120,000. Aims to conclude details on financing, partners early 2015. Thailand's PTT Global Chemical Pcl said on Wednesday it is seeking a partner to expand the crude processing capacity of its planned joint petrochemical project with Indonesian state oil and gas firm Pertamina. PTT Global is planning to triple the crude processing capacity of the project to 360,000 barrels a day (bpd), which would boost the estimated investment in the complex to as much as $8 billion, chief executive Bowon Vongsinudom told reporters.
India's IOC: Crude Processing at Paradip in December
Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country's biggest oil refiner, aims to start crude processing at its 300,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) Paradip refinery in the eastern Indian state of Odisha in December, an executive said on Tuesday. Start-up of the Paradip plant has been delayed several times. The latest deadline to commission the plant was in August/September. "Crude has arrived at the refinery and crude storage tank commissioning is underway," Sanjiv Singh, the company's head of refineries, told reporters.
UK Oil Imports Exceed Exports for First Time in 30 Years
Britain imported more oil products than it exported last year for the first time in 30 years, an official report shows, and analysts say the country is likely to stay dependent on overseas oil as its refineries close. Britain exported 26.2 million tonnes of products such as diesel, kerosene and jet fuel from its refineries last year, but imported 28.2 million tonnes, due to the closure of two major oil processing plants. "The U.K. was a net importer of petroleum products in 2013 for the first time since 1984…
Russia to Ramp Up June Refining Capacity
Russia plans to increase primary oil refining capacity by 882,000 tonnes in June versus May, bringing the total capacity available close to the highest levels so far this year, preliminary Energy Ministry data showed on Tuesday. Total unused primary oil refining capacity in Russia, the world's top oil producer, is expected to reach 758,000 tonnes in June, down from 1.64 million tonnes in May, or around 3 percent of the country's total primary oil refining capacity. The move is likely to drive up prices of Urals crude…
Bayshore Petroleum Corp. Announces Iraq Heavy Oil Upgrader Proposal
Bayshore Petroleum Corp. (“Bayshore” or the “Corporation”) has announced that it has entered into a Letter of Intent with International Enhanced Petroleum Services (EPS), a private UAE company with its registered office located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, UAE and operating in Iraq, to construct a pilot heavy oil upgrading facility utilizing a proprietary cold catalytic cracking (CCC) process. The pilot plant, to be located in Iraq, will initially process 1,000 barrels…
Huge Kuwait Refinery Project Contract for HHI
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), says it has won a total US$ 3.4 billion Mina Abdullah (MAB-2) package for the Clean Fuel Project (CFP) for the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) in a joint venture with Fluor Corporation and Daewoo Engineering & Construction. HHI explain that the joint venture will upgrade the daily oil refining capacity of the KNPC’s existing Mina Al Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refinery plant from 736,000 barrels to 800,000 barrels, and will lower the sulfur content of petroleum products to 5%.
Russia's Idle Oil Refining Capacity to Double in April
Reuters - Russia's idle primary oil refining capacity is likely to double in April to 3.3 million tonnes from March as companies embark on large-scale seasonal maintenance programs, Energy Ministry data showed on Thursday. It is expected that primary refining capacity will go offline at Gazprom's Astrakhan plant, Rosneft's Ryazan, Kuibyshev and Novokuibyshev plants, Gazprom Neft's Omsk and YaroslavlNefteorgsintez refineries, among other plants that will undergo repairs. (Reporting by Maxim Nazarov; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Steve Gutterman)
