Global downstream news: 20th March 2014

Romania

Romania is to auction a 26% stake in the Rompetrol Rafinare refinery, with a starting price of US$ 200 million.

‘This summer we will launch the auction to sell the 26% package of shares. The 18% difference will remain within the State’s ownership’, said Gabriel Dumistrascu, head of privatizations in the Department of Energy.

China

China refined a record amount of crude oil last month, as new plants owned by PetroChina Co. and Sinochem Group came online.

Processing rose 5.3% from a year earlier to 40.17 million t, equivalent to 10.52 million bpd. In contrast, the previous high was 10.2 million bpd in December 2012.

Qatar

The foundation stone for Qatar Petroleum’s joint venture new condensate refinery (LR2) will be laid next month. The planned refinery is to be similar in configuration to the Laffan Refinery (LR1), which started operations in September 2009, and would have a processing capacity of 146 000 bpd of condensate.

Nigeria

The US Trade Development Agency (USTDA) is to offer US$ 257 000 grant for a feasibility study for a gas based industrial complex project in Nigeria.

The study will evaluate various types of facilities that could produce different chemical outputs, including methanol, fertilizer, chemicals and petrochemicals. It will also develop a simulation model that will provide the grantee with recommendations on which of these facilities should be included in the project.

Brazil

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff’s backing of a 2006 purchase of an oil refinery in Pasadena Texas was based on a ‘flawed’ internal report, according to a statement from the President’s communications office.

The purchase has become a scandal in Brazil, as Petroleos Brasiliero SA, or Petrobras, spent nearly US$ 1.2 billion to buy a refinery that a Belgian commodities trader, Transcor Astra Group SA, had bought in 2005 for approximately US$ 60 million. Brazil’s Federal Police have opened an investigation into the matter.

Edited from various sources by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/20032014/downstream_news_294/