The Americas: Downstream news update
Canada
On Thursday last week, a group of 70 protesters marched to the Suncor refinery in Montreal. The protesters are against plans by two oil companies to pump oil from the Alberta oilsands through Quebec. A portion of the group has been on the protest march since May 10 and is part of the group Peoples For Mother Earth.
USA
Communities For A Better Environment, an environmental group in California, has filed a lawsuit against Chevron Corp. which, if granted at the state superior court, would revoke the permit to allow modernisation of the Richmond refinery. The plan to spend US$ 1 billion on the 257 000 bpd plant has been much delayed due to action such as this.
The ExxonMobil owned refinery in Billings has presented US$ 25 000 to Bench Elementary School. The money is for the Project Lead the Way initiative which aims to encourage science within the school district. The money will be spend on science, technology, engineering and maths education specifically.
Rail and refinery safety legislation tabled by US Rep. Mike Thompson has been passed at the US House of Representatives. The legislation is part of H.R. 4681, the Intelligence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015.
Chevron Corp. has announced that construction of a new base oil facility at the Pascagoula refinery is complete. The company spent US$ 1.4 billion on the facility and expects it to reach full production capacity by the middle of summer. Construction of the plant began in 2011.
Venezuela
PDVSA has launched a tender to buy 300 000 bbls of gasoil with 0.5% maximum sulfur levels. The company is looking to receive the cargo between 12 and 14 June. This is the second time that PDVSA has gone to the open market for fuels to satisfy the domestic market in recent weeks. In May the company were seeking 300 000 bbls of catalytic naphtha and 300 000 bbls of gasoil.
Edited from various sources by Claira Lloyd
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/09062014/americas_news_update_downstream/
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