Posts Tagged ‘refining’

US East Coast oil refineries enjoy a stirring comeback

By Katharine Fraser | May 17, 2013 04:21 PM Comments (0)

Alarm bells rang along the US Eastern Seaboard not too long ago that the region would face fuel shortages due to refinery closures in the region, but the dynamics changed with the entrance of some new players as well as domestic crude supply via rail from the Bakken Shale play.

The region is study in contrasts in a matter of a few short years. A couple of years ago, it seemed three major plants might close: the then Sunoco-owned refineries in Marcus Hook and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the then ConocoPhillips-owned Trainer, Pennsylvania, refinery. All that came amid Hess and partner PDVSA initially scaling back operations of the Hovensa refinery on St. Croix, which exported to the US Atlantic Coast, to 350,000 b/d in 2011 before shutting it in January 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

Africa’s energy kingmakers ponder this question: to refine its oil, or not to refine?

By Tim Worledge | April 30, 2013 06:40 PM Comments (2)

The news that Africa’s richest man is to finance the construction of a new refinery in Nigeria comes as Africa’s energy decision makers grapple with the conundrum: to refine, or not to refine. Read the rest of this entry »

China unveils oil pricing reforms, but lacks complete clarity

By Yen Ling Song | March 27, 2013 09:51 AM Comments (0)

China’s long-awaited oil pricing reforms have finally been unveiled. But  the system may have become less,  not more, transparent.

First, some background. In 2008, the government introduced a system of setting retail prices which in theory would raise or cut regulated prices of gasoline, gasoil and kerosene if the rolling 22-working day average of a basket of Cinta, Brent and Dubai benchmark crudes fluctuated more than 4%.

The aim was to move domestic prices closer in line with international crudes so they would reflect the crude procurement costs that refiners bear. This was particularly pressing given the dramatic boost in China’s crude imports, from 30% of its total needs in 2000 to just under 58% last year.

In reality, the system only worked well under two conditions: when oil prices were around $100/barrel and when inflation in China was relatively benign. In much of 2011, when record inflation loomed, the government, worried about the impact on economic growth, made little move to adjust prices upward. That resulted in refiners bleeding at the pump and in some cases curbing production, causing shortages in some areas.

Read the rest of this entry »

At the Wellhead: Rail to the rescue for the US East Coast refining industry

By News Desk | March 25, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (0)

The US East Coast refining industry has taken it on the chin for several years, buying crude at Brent-related prices while their Midcontinent rivals have enjoyed the depressed values of WTI. But the nation’s railroads are changing that, and 2013 is expected to be the year where the results of a turnaround can be seen. Bridget Hunsucker reports on the shift in this week’s Oilgram News column, At the Wellhead.

Read the rest of this entry »

A sea change for US jet fuel: record net exports for 2012

By Matt Kohlman | March 5, 2013 09:43 AM Comments (0)

Think the jets to Europe and Latin America are packed? Try the ships carrying jet fuel.

 The idling of a major Caribbean refinery last year helped speed along a net export trend for US jet fuel, with a record amount shipped out of the US in 2012. The reversal of historic net imports happened despite events that would normally make one think the US would be a heavy importer: major refinery issues on the West Coast and Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast.

Read the rest of this entry »

EIA analysis: US refineries are slowing down

By News Desk | February 6, 2013 04:43 PM Comments (0)

Despite all indications that refining margins are healthy, data is showing that US refineries have cut back somewhat. Partly as a result, crude inventories grew last week. We have the analysis of this week’s EIA numbers here.

Read the rest of this entry »

South Korea is buying Iranian oil again; and it’s salad days for some refineries

By John Kingston | September 14, 2012 03:02 PM Comments (0)

A few late-week news items you can ponder over the weekend:

–Platts’ Takeo Kumagai in Tokyo and our Seoul correspondent Charles Lee reported that South Korea — considered a key country in the West’s plan to restrict Iran’s crude exports to the world — is going to be a buyer again.

After two months in which South Korea took in no crude, it’s now going to take at least 6 million barrels this month, and that’s up from an earlier plan to take 4 million barrels. The oil is on its way, according to Platts sources; the first of three fully laden tankers owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co. left Iran September 10  will be in South Korea by the end of the month. SK Innovation is the customer for that oil. Two more tankers will head out by the end of the month, so not all the oil will get there before October begins.

Read the rest of this entry »

California gasoline reels from another big refinery fire

By Matt Kohlman | August 14, 2012 03:38 AM Comments (0)

They like sequels in California.

Maybe that explains why, for a second time this year, a fire has taken out a key crude distillation unit at a large US West Coast refinery, the West Coast’s third-biggest. And why, for a second time this year, spot gasoline price swings reached into record territory, and Golden State pump prices threaten $4/gal.  

Read the rest of this entry »

Taking California’s low carbon fuel standard, and making it national

By John Kingston | July 19, 2012 05:11 PM Comments (0)

“I’ve never heard anybody come up with a definitively better approach.”

That statement by Daniel Sperling wrapped up the first of three presentations he and other mostly academics are making in Washington this week to launch a push for a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard. It’s a clear statement of confidence in his plans, which is not surprising; as a member of the California Air Resources Board, Sperling, who is also a professor at the University of California-Davis, is one of the key backers of that state’s own LCFS.

Read the rest of this entry »

Feast to famine: Europe’s diesel market remembers the feel of the lean years

By Tim Worledge | July 11, 2012 10:51 AM Comments (0)

Europe’s middle distillate market has long been seen as the cradle of the successful refining margin. Bolstered by legislation that has driven out sulfur and installed the road fuel as the premium product for the region, diesel demand across the continent has by far outstripped the local capacity to produce it.

That’s brought a world of change to the very heart of refining economics, fundamentally recasting diesel as the powerhouse for successful refiners. It has seen those who can’t maximize their middle distillate production fall dramatically by the wayside.

Read the rest of this entry »

« Older Entries