Oil Refineries

Marathon will begin planned maintenance activities on units at its 255,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Robinson, Illinois on March 18, research company IIR and a source familiar with plant operations said on Thursday. IIR announced that the refinery's primary unit which processes sweet and sour oil will be shut down for maintenance. This includes heat exchanger repairs. The plant's 85,000-barrel-per-day diesel hydrotreater unit, 65,000-bpd vacuum distillation unit and 28,000-bpd hydrocracker unit will also undergo turnaround. IIR stated that the crude unit will be shut down for 7-10 days, and then restarted at a reduced capacity estimated at 75 percent until the remainder...

Asia's crude imports have a weak start for 2025 as the continent's largest supplier, Russia, is slowed by new sanctions and China's continued decline in purchasing. According to LSEG Oil Research, Asia's imports are expected to reach 26.17 millions barrels per day in the first two month of this year. This is down by 780,000 bpd compared to the 26.96million bpd imported during the same period last. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) forecasts of a solid growth in demand this year are thrown into doubt by the drop of roughly 3% in crude imported by Asia during the...

In a letter to the United Steelworkers union on Monday, Lyondell Basll Industries announced that layoffs would begin at the refinery in Houston which was closed. Estalee Russi wrote in a letter to USW International president David McCall that "Employment Separations - including (USW) local 13-227 represented employees - will begin at or around April 17, 2025." Tuesday, the letter was examined. A spokesperson for Lyondell did not respond to a comment request. There are around 400 Lyondell employees working at the 263,776 barrel-per-day-capacity Houston refinery, with about 70% of them being hourly workers represented by the Steelworkers. On Tuesday,...

Independent U.S. refiner PBF Energy said it has no estimate for how long its 156,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) Martinez, California, refinery will remain shut following a fire on February 1, according to a statement released on Thursday. In a Thursday morning conference call, executives of the company said that it was not possible to assess the damage caused by the fire due to ongoing investigations. The site of the ignition has been cordoned off. Company executives stated during a conference call that the fire started near the 77.500-bpd hydrotreater for cat feed, which uses hydrogen in order to remove sulfur from the...

PBF Energy reported a third consecutive quarter loss on Thursday as the U.S. refining company was hit by a decline of margins. The Parsippany refiner in New Jersey reported a fourth-quarter loss of $289.3 millions, or $2.54 a share. This was higher than the loss of 48.4 million dollars, or $0.40 if you look at it compared to a year ago. The margins on global refining have fallen in the past year due to the weaker economy and the opening of several refineries in Asia and Africa. U.S. refinery profit margins measured by the 3-2-1 Crack Spread In the quarter...

Heritage Petroleum's CEO, who is the state-owned oil company of Trinidad and Tobago, stated on Tuesday that some U.S. Gulf Coast refining companies have paid recent prices above the Brent crude benchmark price for Trinidad and Tobago Molo heavy sour Crude. Some U.S. refineries have been forced to pay higher prices to obtain other grades due to the lower availability of popular Latin American heavy grades, such as regional benchmark Maya, from Mexico, and Merey, from Venezuela. This is in part because of prolonged production cuts by OPEC+. Trinidad and Tobago has been a marginal crude oil supplier to the...

On Friday, those familiar with the plant's operations reported that Lyondell Basell Industries had completed its final shutdown at its refinery in Houston, which produces 263,776 barrels per day. Lyondell started the previously announced closure of the refinery at the end of January. In an email sent on Friday evening, Lyondell declined to comment on the refinery's status. Some refinery units are in warm circulation while they wait to be emptied from the feedstocks or product that remains. The unit is at the operating temperature but it's not producing any heat. The high temperature allows the liquid hydrocarbons be drained....

Suncor Energy, a Canadian integrated oil and gas company, beat analyst's expectations for the fourth-quarter profits on Wednesday. The firm's higher oil production and high refined product sales volumes helped it to achieve this. Trans Mountain Pipeline project started commercial operations in the United States last year. It increased the country's transportation capacity, and provided access to markets in Asia and on the U.S. West Coast. The new pipeline has almost tripled the amount of crude oil flowing from Alberta's oilsands to British Columbia, on the Pacific Coast. This is now 890,000. Suncor, based in Calgary, Alberta, increased its upstream...

Marathon Petroleum, the top U.S. refining company, beat profit expectations for the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Strength in its midstream segment and in renewable diesel helped offset a decline in refinery margins. The midstream segment of the refiner reported an adjusted core income of $1.71billion in the third quarter. This compares to $1.57billion a year ago, and benefited from accretive contributions made by its newly acquired Utica basin and Permian Basin assets. The MPLX division of the company Buy Tickets Last year, Summit Midstream Partners acquired Utica assets for $625 Million. The company's margin for refining, marketing and sales was...

PBF Energy announced on Sunday that its 156.400 barrels per day (bpd), Martinez, California refinery had been shut down following an incendiary on Saturday. PBF reported that the fire is still burning and under control. On Sunday, firefighters were monitoring the fire. PBF stated that the initial focus of its investigation into the fire is to determine whether maintenance leaks contributed to the fire’s ignition. The company confirmed that the refinery's utilities are still operational. The company reported that the fire which started on Saturday afternoon, at the refinery, located 37 km (23 miles) northeast of San Francisco was put...

Analysts and market participants said that Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian oil and Mexican oil will give European and Asian refineries an advantage over their U.S. competitors. White House officials confirmed that Trump ordered tariffs of 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports, and 10% on Chinese goods starting Tuesday in response to a national crisis over fentanyl. They said that energy products imported from Canada would be subject to a duty of only 10%, while Mexican energy imports would be subject to a full 25%. Sources in the industry said that the tariffs on two of the biggest sources of...

Refiner Phillips 66 reported a smaller-than-expected loss on Friday as strength in its renewables segment offset a sharp decline in refining margins. The renewable fuels segment posted a profit of $28 millions for the quarter, compared with a loss $11 million a year ago. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused supply shortages, the U.S. refinery industry enjoyed exceptional profits over a two-year period. A post-pandemic surge in demand also helped to boost margins. New refining capacity will be available at the end 2023. This will cause margins to return back to normal and put pressure on refiner profit. The...

The governor of Leningrad, a region in the northwestern part of Russia, said that a tank at the Kirishi oil refining plant, one of Russia's biggest, was damaged during an aerial attack by Ukraine. Surgutneftegaz's Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) refinery is one of the top two refineries in Russia. According to industry sources, it refines approximately 17.7 million tonnes of Russian crude per year (355, 000 barrels per day). Alexander Drozdenko said that the governor of Leningrad Region, Alexander Drozdenko on Telegram, "Air defences destroyed one drone as it approached, and the other was destroyed on the territory of enterprise." He said...

OPEC+, the group of crude oil producers, justified its decision to increase production citing "the healthy fundamentals of the market and a positive outlook for the market." They are probably looking at a different market than the rest of us. OPEC+ - which includes the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus Russia and its allies - announced in a Monday statement that they will proceed with a planned increase in production in April. Calculations show that the volume of oil required to be added back is 138,000 barrels per daily (bpd). It is not enough to have a significant...

The flow of Russian naphtha to Asia fell to an all-time low in February after new drone attacks on Russian refinery infrastructure. This led to higher prices in the East for the raw plastic material. Naphtha can be used as a feedstock to produce petrochemicals, which are then used in the production of plastic bottles, electric vehicle components and consumer products. Since Washington announced tougher sanctions against entities in the Russian oil business, Asian refiners have seen their profits from making naphtha increase by around 40%. Industry sources have said that the risk of Russian supplies could complicate a global...

Asia's crude imports have a weak start for 2025 as the continent's largest supplier, Russia, is slowed by new sanctions and China's continued decline in purchasing. According to LSEG Oil Research, Asia's imports are expected to reach 26.17 millions barrels per day in the first two month of this year. This is down by 780,000 barrels per days from 26.96million bpd during the same period last. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) forecast of a solid growth in demand this year is now in doubt after the drop of 3% in crude oil imports in Asia during the first...

Ukraine attacked energy facilities in southern Russia on Monday with dozens drones, causing fires to break out at an oil refinery and gas processing plant. Flights from the Volga Mountains to the Caucasus Mountains were also disrupted. The following is a list petrochemical, oil refineries, and other facilities that have been attacked over the last month. VOLGOGRAD Baza, an official Russian Telegram news channel, reported that a series explosions occurred in the vicinity of a refinery owned by Russia's second largest oil producer, Lukoil, in Volgograd, on February 3. The refinery is one of the largest in south Russia. The...

China's. surplus crude oil relieved a little in December, but the excess. rose in 2024 to more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) as. refiners demolished less expensive Russian freights. China, the world's biggest crude importer, had excess crude. oil of about 1.5 million bpd in December, below 1.77 million. bpd in November, according to calculations based on official. data. For 2024, the surplus of crude was 1.15 million bpd, up from. 760,000 bpd in 2023, implying that refiners likely have strong. stock levels, giving them options on how to handle the. recent spike in oil prices. China does...

Asia's crude oil imports dropped in 2024, the first yearly decrease in three years, led by weak demand from heavyweight China and other major buyers, with only India managing sporadic development. The world's leading importing area saw arrivals of 26.51 million barrels each day (bpd) in 2024, down 1.4% from the 26.88 million bpd in 2023, according to data put together by LSEG Oil Research study. The decline of 370,000 bpd this year marked the very first time Asia's crude imports have dropped considering that 2021, when China's. strict lockdown to fight COVID-19 cut need worldwide's. biggest oil importer. It...

Asia's crude oil imports dropped in 2024, the very first yearly decline in three years, led by weak need from heavyweight China and other major buyers, with only India handling sparse development. The world's top importing region saw arrivals of 26.51 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, down 1.4% from the 26.88 million bpd in 2023, according to information compiled by LSEG Oil Research. The decline of 370,000 bpd this year marked the very first time Asia's crude imports have actually dropped given that 2021, when China's. stringent lockdown to combat COVID-19 cut demand worldwide's. greatest oil importer. It...

Staterun Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp is purchasing Middle Eastern crude to offset less supply of cheaper Russian oil, its head of finance Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta stated in a recent interview. Indian state refiners, which generally buy Russian oil in the spot market instead of under long-lasting contract, are unable to acquire about 8 million to 10 million barrels of crude for January loading that they have actually formerly seen offered in the market, sources stated previously this month. India became a leading purchaser of Russian seaborne oil after the European Union shunned purchases and enforced sanctions on Moscow following...

Saudi Arabia clawed back market share of Asia's crude oil imports in November, while Russia surrendered a few of its barrels in what might be an early sign of a shift in market characteristics. Asia's imports from Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, rose to 5.83 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, up from 5.28 million bpd in October, according to data put together by LSEG Oil Research Study. On the other hand Russia's products to Asia, the top-importing region, dropped to 3.51 million bpd in November, down from October's 3.96 million and the lowest given that January,...

Russian oil manufacturers have moved the trading cycle for the country's flagship Urals crude blend and are offering freights even more ahead of time to fit buyers in Asia, now their primary market, 4 market and trading sources told Reuters. Urals was one of primary grades in European refiners' feedstock for years, but an EU embargo on Russian oil in 2022 following Russia's intrusion of Ukraine implied its sellers needed to seek new purchasers. India and China are now the top 2 customers of Russian oil. Due to their geographical distance to customers in Europe, Urals oil cargoes were typically...

Changes to aids paid to oil refineries may bring additional 136 billion roubles ($ 1.40. billion) next year for the Russian state spending plan, Reuters. calculations revealed, as the federal government squeezes more taxes to. fund military and other costs. The changes to Russia's Tax Code were approved by the. parliament last week. The subsidies had actually been introduced to suppress. fuel exports and prevent fuel scarcities on the domestic market as. well price spikes. Russia will raise its budget plan costs by 9% to 41.5 trillion. roubles ($ 446.2 billion) in 2025, with a deficit of 0.5% of. gdp...