Conoco has seized Venezuela PDVSA products from Isla refinery -Curacao

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters.

Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a USD2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.

"PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated. We don’t have any way to get them," said Steven Martina, Curacao’s minister for economic development, who did not provide the amount or value of the seized products.

Conoco and PDVSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Martina added that Curacao was planning to meet with PDVSA and Conoco this week to discuss the dispute that has led Conoco to seize Venezuelan assets in the Caribbean, wreaking havoc on PDVSA’s export chain.

The dispute has also caused worry on Curacao, a constituent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands with a vibrant tourism industry and deep-water ports used by the oil industry. The island is heavily dependent on the refinery, which provides as much as 10 percent of Curacao’s gross domestic product and is a big source of employment on the island just off Venezuela.

"There is no need to be alarmed, fuel and services are guaranteed," Curacao's Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said in a news conference on Sunday. He added that lawyers are also contacting Conoco to "reach a deal and negotiate."

PDVSA is preparing to shut a Caribbean refinery that is running out of crude amid threats by Conoco to seize cargoes sent to resupply the facility, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday.

But Martina said the 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery was still operating, albeit at low levels, thanks to Curacao's reserves.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China’s CNPC is expected to start operating an expanded refinery in northern China with an annual processing capacity of 10 million tonnes (200,000 barrels per day) in October, the state oil firm said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The refinery previously had a capacity of 100 Mbpd. The Huabei Petrochemical plant, in Renqiu of Hebei province, will supply the capital city of Beijing with premium gasoline "Jing six", with quality higher than Euro five, as well as aviation fuel to the new Beijing airport.

A pipeline to supply jet fuel to the new Beijing airport, in the southern suburb of Daxing, is expected to be completed at the end of September, CNPC said.

CNPC is also adding a refined fuel pipeline connecting Fushun and Jinzhou, both in northeast Liaoning province, and a separate pipeline linking Jinzhou with central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. The state firm operates two refineries in Jinzhou.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Trafigura Group Pte Ltd, (Trafigura), one of the world’s leading independent commodities trading companies, has completed the acquisition of the majority of the downstream assets of Pampa Energia SA, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

These assets include more than 250 service stations and the Ricardo Elicabe refinery (BBR) located in Bahia Blanca.

Trafigura’s current operations in Argentina include a fluvial fleet and the Campana Terminal which supplies the Argentinian, Paraguayan and Bolivian markets with diesel and gasoline via the Parana River. It is also rapidly developing a network of retail service stations across Argentina under the Puma Energy brand.

The transfer of the assets and rebranding of the 250 service stations will be progressive and rolled out over the coming months.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Meridian Energy is planning to build the new oil refinery at Belfield has hired an engineering and construction firm to complete the "front-end engineering and design" study for the refinery, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It’s being done in anticipation of the state Health Department giving the company the permit to construct the refinery. "We are fairly certain there will be no substantial changes to that permit from the draft that was issued in December," said Meridian CEO William Prentice.

Prentice said he expects the final permits will be issued soon.

"The state has declared, and it’s proper, that it will take its time to do this right,Є Prentice said in an interview. "They’re obviously aware of the benefits of the project. Prentice said he’s confident the final decision will come out "in a matter of weeks."

"We just don’t understand what additional delays there could be," Prentice said. “But it’s beyond our control."

Prentice said his company went through the substantial number of public comments received in the hearing process. "Nothing we received indicated to us there would be substantial changes to the air quality permit draft," Prentice said. "That allows us to finish up the engineering, and be ready to begin construction as soon as that permit is issued."

Prentice said the initial phase - the 27,500 barrel refinery - should be completed by the middle of 2019. He said Meridian could go up to 50,000 barrels a day without requesting a new permit. But he said if the company sees more need for expansion beyond that, it would file for a new permit.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In the first quarter of 2018, SIBUR’s gas processing plants (GPPs) processed 5.6 billion cubic metres2 of APG, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year. As a result, production of natural gas totaled 4.8 billion cubic metres2, as per the company's press release.

Raw NGL fractionation volumes increased by 9% year-on-year to 2.2 million tonnes1.

In the first quarter of 2018, SIBUR’s sales volumes of liquid hydrocarbons increased by 18.3% year-on-year and totaled 1.5 million tonnes, while natural gas sales volumes increased by 1.9% year-on-year and totaled 4.5 billion cubic metres.

In the first quarter of 2018, polyolefin sales volumes increased by 3.2% and reached 210 thousand tonnes, while sales of plastics and organic synthesis products increased by 2.2% to 197 thousand tonnes year-on-year on higher capacity load.

In the first quarter of 2018, SIBUR’s gas processing plants (GPPs) processed 5.6 billion cubic metres2 of APG, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year. As a result, production of natural gas totaled 4.8 billion cubic metres2.. Raw NGL fractionation volumes increased by 9% year-on-year to 2.2 million tonnes1.

In the first quarter of 2018, SIBUR’s sales volumes of liquid hydrocarbons increased by 18.3% year-on-year and totaled 1.5 million tonnes, while natural gas sales volumes increased by 1.9% year-on-year and totaled 4.5 billion cubic metres.

In the first quarter of 2018, polyolefin sales volumes increased by 3.2% and reached 210 thousand tonnes, while sales of plastics and organic synthesis products increased by 2.2% to 197 thousand tonnes year-on-year on higher capacity load.
MRC