Global downstream news: 30 April 2014

UK

BP has announced that its profits have fallen due to lower output and a drop in earnings at refineries.

Earnings adjusted for one time items and inventory changes fell to US$ 3.2 billion in the first quarter, from US$ 4.2 billion/y earlier.

Wales

Talks continue over the future of the Milford Haven refinery. A buyer is still being sought for the Murco plant in Pembrokeshire, but the company said it is no longer buying crude to be processed at the site.

USA

Valero Energy Corp. has indiacted that cheap inland crude oil has boosted its first quarter profits but also prompted rate cuts at a pair of plants that cannot process much of it.

Valero is building special ‘crude topper’ units at its Houston and Corpus Christi refineries in order to increase their light sweet crude processing capabilities.

Canada

Suncor Energy Inc.’s Montreal oil refinery could go ahead with a project that will enable it to process thick, oilsands bitumen from Alberta later this year.

The Montreal coker project is just one way that Suncor is looking to cut crude costs at the refinery.

Kuwait

Kuwait has agreed to pre-qualify six international consortiums to bid for a 600 000 bpd refining project.

The six include JGC Corp of Japan, Fluor Corp., KPR of the US, Petrofac, Saipem, TR Group of Spain.

China

Haike Chemical Group has announced that Group companies have enters into two conditional sale and purchase agreements.

The principal aim of these agreements is to effect the divestment of the Group’s historically unprofitable assets and a significant proportion of the Group’s financial liabilities.

These agreements will result in the disposal of the Group’s refinery assets, the large majority of the Group’s debts and the Group’s biochemical assets, in order to leave a smaller but more focused specialty chemical business.

Ghana

One person has been killed at an explosion on a pipeline linking Ghana’s 45 000 bpd Tema Oil Refinery to a nearby port.

The 5 km stretch of pipeline was transporting naphtha when it began to leak at around 12 noon yesterday.

Edited from various sources by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/30042014/downstream_news_442/