Oil Refineries

Valero Energy on Thursday said it would cease operations at its 170,000-barrel-per-day San Francisco-area oil refinery next year amid worries about California's declining fuel supplies and high gasoline prices. The refinery in Benicia will be able to continue operating until the end of 2026, after the refinery based in San Antonio, Texas, announced last week its intention to "idle or restructure" the refinery by that date. Valero said that it recorded a pre-tax impairment of $1.1 billion for its California refineries. Valero CEO Lane Riggs said that the challenging regulatory and enforcement environments was the reason for Valero's decision to...

Gary Simmons, the Chief Operating Officer of Valero Energy Corp. told analysts during a conference call on its first-quarter earnings that Valero Energy Corp.'s license for fuel imports into Mexico had been reinstated after a suspension early in April. The Mexican tax authorities, who are the biggest buyers of U.S. fuels in Mexico, have suspended Valero’s import license since the beginning of this month, amid a crackdown on illegal motor fuel flows into the country. Simmons stated that Valero received the notice of suspension on April 9, as the Mexican customs had questions about Valero arising from an investigation Valero...

Valero Energy announced a loss for the first quarter compared to a profit a year ago on Thursday. This was due to lower refining profits and approximately $1 billion of impairment charges related its West Coast assets. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the refinery with the second largest capacity in America posted an adjusted profit per share of 89 cents, exceeding expectations of 42 cents. Lane Riggs, CEO of Lane Riggs Oil Company, said that the quarter saw heavy maintenance throughout the refinery system as well as a "challenging environment" for the renewable diesel segment. U.S. refineries...

China's imports were low in the first quarter. The challenge is to determine whether this was due to temporary factors, or a deeper economic malaise. In the first quarter of 2025, the four biggest commodity imports - crude oil, coal, iron ore and copper - all fell compared to 2024. The soft imports can be explained by the fact that the second largest economy in the world is still trying to gain momentum for economic growth. This task is made more difficult by the trade war escalating by U.S. president Donald Trump. This ignores a number of factors that are...

Sources close to the company's operations on Tuesday said that Venezuela's PDVSA, a state-owned oil company, is restarting the fluid catalytic cracked (FCC) at its El Palito refinery, which was shut down for 11 months. This will partially offset a suspension of key refinery units due to an electrical blackout. PDVSA is increasing domestic refining in order to avoid a fuel crisis. The U.S. government has tightened sanctions against the energy sector of the country, which prevents it from importing replacement parts and equipment necessary to maintain and upgrade its refining units. Venezuela's largest refinery, the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay, has been...

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu appointed former Shell executive Bayo Ojulari to lead the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. This appointment has raised hopes for a much needed overhaul of the state-owned company and an increase in oil production. NNPC, Nigeria's golden goose for so many years, has seen its finances deteriorate in recent times due to corruption, opaque deals and high-level politics meddling. The new leadership will have to tackle these issues if it wants the company – and the economy – back on track. What you need to know about NNPC operations Why is NNPC important? Nigeria's economy depends on...

The threat by U.S. president Donald Trump to impose secondary duties of 25 to 50 percent on buyers of Russian crude is so outrageous and bold that it may achieve his stated goal of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. What is important now is how the other key players react to the latest move of this mercurial, inconsistent U.S. president. Do Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, believe that Trump is going to follow through on his promises? If so, what will this mean for the energy situation of...

Veniamin Knratiev, the region's governor, said that a fire at a Krasnodar oil depot caused by a suspected Ukrainian drone strike was extinguished almost a week after its start. The Kavkazskaya Depot is only a few kilometers from the Kropotkinskaya Pumping Station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. This station was also struck by a drone in the last month. This sparked fears about a possible drop in global oil supply. The depot is crucial for Russia's exports of oil via CPC. CPC transports mainly Kazakhstan's exports of oil. Kondratiev, a Telegram user, said that two reservoirs in the facility had...

According to a document obtained by us on Monday, Venezuela's PDVSA state-run company has developed three scenarios to ensure that it can continue to produce and export oil through its largest joint venture in Venezuela with Chevron after the license granted to the U.S. giant to operate within the country expires at the end of next month. Chevron was given 30 days by the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump to stop all oil exports and operations from Venezuela to the United States, which are currently being done under a license issued in 2022. Chevron is present in this sanctioned...

Irfaan Ali, the Guyanese president, said that Guyana was considering a plan for exporting crude oil to America for refinement and bringing back fuel to supply domestically and perhaps to sell to other countries nearby. Guyana's economy is one of the fastest growing in the world thanks to the rapid increase in oil production at its prolific offshore oilfields. These fields are operated by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium. The government has a right to receive a certain percentage of the oil produced as profit, which is exported through trading companies that distribute cargoes on different markets, primarily Europe. Guyana doesn't...

Gold Reserve, a Canadian miner, said that its Delaware-based subsidiary, Dalinar Energy has made an offer which could be selected as the opening bid at a court auction for shares of Citgo Petroleum, whose parent company is owned by Venezuela. The federal court in Delaware that is conducting the auction on behalf of Citgo parent PDV Holding is expected to accept the bid as a "stalking horse" bid. This is the minimum or starting offer. Gold Reserve reports that if the court decides to accept rival bids for the sale, the topping-off period begins. The final hearing is scheduled for...

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...

Data from industry and trade sources revealed that the share of OPEC crude oil in India's imported oil fell to a new record low during fiscal year 2024-25, as refiners continued to gorge themselves on cheaper Russian oil, which was the number one oil supplier for New Delhi for a third consecutive year. India, which is the third largest oil consumer and importer in the world, has been buying Russian oil at a discounted price after the West imposed sanctions against Moscow due to the Ukraine conflict. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, the South Asian nation imported 4.88...

According to three trading sources, and shipping data, Turkey's biggest oil refiner Tupras is now buying Russian Urals crude after stopping earlier this year because of stronger U.S. Sanctions against Moscow. Tupras didn't immediately respond to a comment request. Three sources confirmed that Tupras had resumed purchases following the price of Urals crude falling to its lowest level since 2023 earlier this month. The price was comfortably below the $60 per barrel G7 cap. The price cap imposed on Russian oil by the Group of Seven, the European Union, and Australia prohibits the use of Western services like insurance, flagging,...

The netback price for oil delivered to Primorsk, a Baltic Sea port, from Western Siberia, has fallen by the most since June 2023, following the fall in global oil prices. The drop in oil prices could add to the concerns of the Russian government. It is already dealing with high inflation, slower economic growth, and low oil prices, which are a major source of revenue for state budget. The netback of West Siberian crude oil has declined to $392 per metric ton, according to calculations. The netback is a benchmark used by traders to determine the price of domestic crude...

Russia accused Ukraine of attacking its energy infrastructure on Friday, despite a ban on such strikes. It said a major piece of gas pipeline in Sudzha was virtually destroyed. An official from Ukraine said that Russia was responsible for the attack on Sudzha's gas transit point. It was not possible to confirm independently which side was responsible. Separate agreements were announced by the United States and Russia on February 2 to stop their attacks in the Black Sea, and to target each other's energy. These agreements are potential stepping-stones that Washington hopes can lead to a complete ceasefire and to...

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...

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...