Oil & Gas Refining

By Ross Kerber Dec. 10 - Financial leaders and corporate leaders will soon learn if U.S. president Donald Trump is going to continue his Republican crusade aimed at giant index funds. Washington trade groups expected last month that the White House would issue an executive directive to reshape corporate governance by imposing new limitations on proxy advisers, and big passive index funds. Republicans claim that the "Big Three", passive firms, including?BlackRock?,?Vanguard? and State Street? "use shareholder voting to advance a political agenda" according to the 2022 staff report of the Senate Banking Committee?s Republican staff. Since 2022, the votes of...

Elon Musk’s SpaceX will?be pursuing an initial public offer next year. The company is looking to?raise more than $25 billion with a valuation of over $1 trillion. SpaceX has begun discussions with banks regarding the public listing. This could happen around June or July. Musk said in 2020 that SpaceX would list Starlink a few years later, once revenue growth was "smooth and predictable". SpaceX didn't?immediately reply to a comment request. Saudi Aramco is the only IPO that has?achieved a value of $1 trillion or higher. It debuted 'in December 2019 and had an estimated market capitalization of $1.7 billion....

Smackover Lithium, the joint venture between Standard Lithium and Equinor announced on Tuesday that it had attracted more than $1 billion of financing interest for its southwest Arkansas Lithium project. Three export credit agencies including EXIM, Export Finance Norway and Export Finance Sweden have expressed interest in providing debt financing to the project. Standard Lithium's U.S. listed shares rose 5% during premarket trading. The joint venture seeks up to $1.1billion in senior secured debt for the majority of the $1.45billion cost of constructing the first phase of the project. Export credit agencies would provide loans and guarantees, while commercial banks...

HF Sinclair forecast capital expenditures for '2026 of $775 million. This is a 11% drop from 'its estimated spending this year. After operating at full capacity in 2022 due to supply shortages resulting from Russia's invasion, U.S. refineries have focused on maintenance. The company's budget would be reduced by $325 million, which is less than the $410 millions it had forecasted for 2025. The independent refiner based in Dallas, Texas, said that it was considering expanding its pipeline system across the Rocky Mountain range and West Coast, to "bolster fuel supplies" for markets such as California and Nevada. The West...

Three sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that MOL, a Hungarian oil company, has informed U.S. officials of its interest in purchasing international assets from sanctioned Russian oil giant Lukoil. This adds to a growing number of potential buyers. In October, the United States imposed sanctions against Russia's largest private oil producer as part of its efforts to press Moscow to end their war in Ukraine. This forced Lukoil into announcing the sale of foreign assets. Sources have confirmed that Lukoil has been in talks with oil majors Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Middle Eastern investors before the December...

Valero Energy will upgrade its large crude distillation unit in Port Arthur's Texas refinery, which produces 380,000 barrels per day, in February, according to people familiar with plant operations. Tuesday, a Valero spokesperson failed to respond to a question about the refinery’s maintenance schedule. Valero will begin a series upgrades in February to the AVU 146 CDU to increase the unit's average capacity from 235,000 bpd up to 260,000 bpd. Sources said that improvements would be made to the processing of bottoms, which are heavy, gunky residue crude oils usually sent to cokers or used to make asphalt. Sources said...

Motiva Enterprises will perform maintenance on a coker this December and overhaul its large crude distillation system in September 2026, according to people familiar with the plant's operations. The refinery produces 640,500 barrels per day. A Motiva spokesperson failed to respond on Tuesday when asked for comments about the planned maintenance of the Port Arthur refinery in the United States, the largest. Sources did not specify which of the cokers in the refinery would undergo maintenance before the end 2025. Two cokers are available at the refinery. DCU-1 is capable of producing 54,000 bpd, and DCU-2 can produce 110,000 bpd....

The Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a two-day trip to India on Thursday. He will be promoting more Russian oil sales, missile systems, and fighter jets to restore the energy and defence links that have been damaged by U.S. sanctions against India. Russia has been supplying arms to India since the 1960s. New Delhi is now its largest buyer of oil by sea despite Western sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. India's crude oil imports will hit a low of three years this month after Russia was sanctioned for its increasing purchases of U.S. gas and oil....

The Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a two-day trip to India on Thursday. He will be promoting more Russian oil sales, missile systems, and fighter jets to restore the energy and defence links that have been damaged by U.S. sanctions against India. Russia has been supplying arms to India since the 1960s. New Delhi is now its largest buyer of oil by sea despite Western sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. India's crude oil imports will hit a low of three years this month after Russia was sanctioned for its increasing purchases of U.S. gas and oil....

The companies and government of Andhra Pradesh announced on Wednesday that a joint venture between Reliance Industries and the state will invest $11 billion in five years for the development of 1 gigawatt AI data capacity. Digital Connexion is a joint venture between the Canadian multinational Brookfield Corporation, and the U.S. real estate investment trust Digital Realty. The project will establish a campus of AI-native data centres on 400 acres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Google announced in October that it would build AI data centres in Visakhapatnam, India, over a five-year period. This will be the largest AI hub the...

The NOVA.RS TV in Belgrade reported that the operations at Serbia's Russian owned NIS oil refinery had ceased due to a shortage of crude oil. This is the latest indication that U.S. sanction on the project may threaten fuel supplies throughout the Balkan nation. NIS officials and the Serbian government declined comment. In January, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector, including NIS. NIS is owned in majority by Russia’s Gazprom and Gazprom. US repeatedly granted NIS waivers until the sanctions came into force in October. The banks then stopped...

Two sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday said that Binh Son refinery in Vietnam is expected to purchase 1 million barrels West Texas Intermediate crude oil in January. This will be its second purchase within three months, as it increases imports from the United States. Since Trump threatened to impose tariffs against Vietnamese products in April, Vietnam has sought to purchase more U.S. products to close the trade gap. Vietnam wants to import a variety of U.S. products, including farm produce, liquefied gas, aircraft, and crude oil. Sources said that Swiss trader Mercuria had sold the cargo of 1...

Petromarket 'consultancy' said that Russia could increase its liquefied gas supply to China next year by 40%, to?1.125 millions metric tons, as Moscow pivots towards the East. In response to Western sanctions regarding its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has redirected oil flows from Europe towards China and India. The European Union's sanctions against Russia's LPG?took effect December 20, 2024. Russia now aims to increase its natural gas and LPG exports?to China. LPG (or propane and butane) is used primarily as fuel in?cars and heating systems, and for the production of other petrochemicals. Russia also supplies LPG to:?Turkey and...

Five Iraqi sources who are directly involved in the matter confirmed that Exxon Mobil had approached the Iraqi Oil Ministry to express their interest in purchasing the majority stake of Russian company Lukoil in the West Qurna 2 giant oilfield. Exxon is expanding its presence in Iraq, as the U.S. company returns to the country after sanctions imposed by the U.S. Exxon refused to comment, while Lukoil did not respond to the request for comment. The U.S. Treasury has given potential buyers permission to speak to Lukoil up until December 13 but will require approval for specific transactions. Last month,...

The foreign assets of Russian oil giant Lukoil, which are located in Egypt and Kazakhstan, are attracting bidders. Time is running out for the deals to be completed before U.S. sanctions can be enforced. As part of their efforts to get the Kremlin into peace talks on Ukraine, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Lukoil. They have already blocked Lukoil’s attempts to sell foreign assets before the deadline of November 21, sanctions. Lukoil has also been affected by the sanctions in Iraq, Finland at pump stations and Bulgaria in a refinery. Governments and partners want to buy its foreign assets...

Three trade sources reported on Monday that Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd issued a very rare spot tender for two cargoes each of naphtha to be delivered in November after it was unable to obtain supplies from Russia of this petrochemical feedstock. One source said that the tender was extended to November 12th. Two of the sources said that HMEL wants naphtha to have a minimum paraffin content of 60% and a maximum sulphur level of 500 ppm, for delivery in Mundra port on November 9-12 or November 13-18. Part of the naphtha required for the cracker is met...

Torbjorn Tornqvist, CEO of Gunvor Group, said on Wednesday that any potential deal for the purchase of foreign assets from Russia's second largest oil company Lukoil would not include a buyback provision. Lukoil has accepted Gunvor's offer to purchase its foreign assets, after Washington imposed sanctions against it last month. Tornqvist, speaking on the sidelines the ADIPEC Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi Tornqvist has ruled out any possibility of a Buyback Clause that would allow Gunvor the ability to sell back the assets to the Russian Oil Major if sanctions were lifted. When asked by whether such a provision could...

Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that after European Union sanctions earlier in the year, Nayara Energy, a Russian-backed Indian refiner, has increased crude processing to 90-93% capacity at its Vadinar Refinery. Sources have said that oil processing at Nayara’s 400,000 barrels-per-day western India plant fell to 70 to 80 percent after the EU sanctions it in July. This impacted its exports, and caused suppliers like Iraq and Saudi Arabia, to stop crude sales to the firm. Nayara was operating at 104% capacity before the sanctions. Nayara, a majority-owned company by Russian entities, is dominated by Rosneft. Rosneft...

A company executive said that India's state refiner Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd does not have immediate plans to purchase Russian oil because of the risks involved following the latest U.S. sanction on Moscow's major oil producers. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, and Lukoil in an effort to pressure Vladimir Putin into ending the war in Ukraine. The MRPL executive who declined to name himself due to the sensitive nature of the issue said that it was hard for the company's to track back oil supplies and make sure they did...

Russia, which is the second-largest oil exporter in the world, is considering how it will respond to U.S. sanction against top oil companies Rosneft, and Lukoil, and to the possibility of reduced sales to India, its largest buyer. Since months, President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have been discussing a way to end the conflict. However, there has not yet been a breakthrough. What did the U.S. do? The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Lukoil and several of their subsidiaries on October 22, while calling on Moscow to agree...

Three sources with knowledge of the situation said that some Indian refiners were preparing to reduce their Russian oil imports. The U.S. was pressuring New Delhi, to stop purchasing Russian crude in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra modi assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia - its main source of oil imports. India's main goal, it said on Thursday, was to secure energy supply and maintain stable prices. In a volatile energy market, it has always been our priority to protect the Indian...

Sources in the trade said that traders offering Russian oil are now asking Indian refiners to make payments in Chinese Yuan. They see recent signs of improved relations between New Delhi, China and Beijing as an opportunity to simplify transactions with Indian buyers. Indian Oil Corp, India's largest refiner and state-controlled company, paid in Chinese currency recently for two or three cargoes worth of Russian oil. Indian Oil has not responded to the request for comment immediately. Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to a greater use of alternative currencies such as the...

The head of Serbia's state gas company, RTS, told the public broadcaster on Tuesday that Serbia will sign a deal for a three-year supply of gas with Russia. Dusan Bajatovic, Srbijagas, said that Serbia already has daily gas supplies of 2.5 millions cubic metres from Azerbaijan. It also receives 9.5 million cubic meters daily from Russia. Bajatovic said that Serbia has a single gas storage facility which holds 780 millions cubic metres of gas. If needed, an additional 200,000,000 cubic metres can be obtained from a storage in Hungary. Serbia is one of the few European countries that still buys...

Iraq's oil exports have increased following the gradual unwinding voluntary production cuts made under the OPEC+ Agreement, said the country's official oil marketing SOMO on Sunday. Eight members of OPEC+ have agreed to increase production by 137,000 barrels a day from October. OPEC+ increased production in April, after years of cutting to support the oil markets. Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, director general of SOMO and Iraqi state media agency, said that the increase in Iraqi exports will generate additional revenues of hundreds of millions at current prices. He did not specify how much the government's exports would increase, but he said...