Oil Refineries

Two sources familiar with the operations of PDVSA, Venezuela's energy company, said that the country's oil refinery and production?were running normally on Saturday. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that U.S. troops had captured Nicolas Maduro after months of pressure on him regarding accusations?of drug-running, and illegitimacy at power. One source said that the port of La Guiara, near Caracas, which is one of Venezuela's largest, but not one used for oil exports, had suffered serious damage. In December, Trump announced a ban on oil tankers from entering or leaving Venezuela. The U.S. also seized two cargoes containing Venezuelan crude....

To speed up deliveries, the U.S. Transport Safety Regulator has extended an 'emergency waiver' on driving time limits for truckers transporting heating fuels. The extension was given on Tuesday because extreme cold and severe winter storms in Pennsylvania, as well as a major power outage at an important gas refinery, had 'disrupted' propane supplies and created immediate dangers to the public health, safety, and welfare of those states. U.S. regulations normally require truck drivers to take mandatory rest breaks and cap their daily?and weekday driving hours in order to reduce fatigue-related crashes. However, regulators may temporarily waive these limits to...

The dark comedy "One Battle After Another", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, received nine Golden Globe nominations in a row on Monday. This puts the thriller at the top of the list for Hollywood's race to the Academy Awards. DiCaprio stars in the movie directed by Paul Thomas Anderson as a revolutionary who takes action when his daughter is threatened. Warner Bros' film will be competing in the category of best movie musical, or comedy against other films such as "Bugonia" and "Marty Supreme". Norwegian family drama "Sentimental Value", which won eight nominations in total, was just one ahead of the supernatural...

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 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...

Honeywell has been contracted by Nigerian oil refinery Dangote to help double the capacity of its refinery to 1.4million barrels per day in 2028. This is the clearest sign yet that the company's plans to become the largest refinery in the world are taking shape. Honeywell's equipment and catalysts will help Dangote process a wider range of crude grades, which is needed to support their planned expansion of output. Dangote also plans to license Honeywell's Oleflex Technology to increase its polypropylene production - a material used in plastic containers and auto parts. The financial terms of the agreement were not...

Five sources said that U.S. sanctions have dismantled what is left of Lukoil Litasco. Litasco was once Russia's largest oil trader, and a competitor to Swiss oil houses and major oil companies. Washington is trying to stop Moscow from funding its war in Ukraine. The new measures also target the state-owned Rosneft. They went into effect Friday. The measures have put Lukoil’s global operations in limbo - from oilfields across the Middle East, to fuel pumps and refining plants throughout Europe. Sources said that Litasco, cut off from the global system of finance, has fired most traders and operational employees,...

Exxon Mobil announced Tuesday that it will close its Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) located in Scotland by February 2026. The company said the plant is no longer viable due to high supply costs, weak markets and the UK’s economic and political environment. The European Union's fourth largest exporting sector, after machinery, automobiles and pharmaceuticals has been under pressure due to soaring energy prices following Russia's invasion in Ukraine, and an aging infrastructure. This has led them to become more dependent on imports for key feedstocks like ethylene and propylene. Exxon said that the closure would affect 179 employees and 250...

According to sources familiar with the plant's operations, Marathon Petroleum has restarted the last repaired portion of the residual hydrotreater at its 631,000 barrels per day (bpd), Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City. Jamal Kheiry, the spokesperson for Marathon, declined to comment on operations at its refinery Wednesday. Sources said that the last section was a hydrocracker located on the RHU of 64,000 bpd, which had been heavily damaged in a fire in June. The hydrocracker should restart by the week's end. Sources told us in October that the hydrocracker repair work would be completed in November. A restart was...

The chairman of Bulgaria's state reserves agency announced on Tuesday that the country has one month's worth of gasoline left to prepare for U.S. Sanctions against Russia's Lukoil. Lukoil owns Bulgaria's biggest oil refinery, as well as its storage and pipeline infrastructure. Last month, the U.S., Britain, and France imposed sanctions against Lukoil, and Rosneft - Russia's largest oil companies - over Moscow's conflict in Ukraine. This threatened their operations, which still stretch across Europe. The U.S. sanction, scheduled to start on November 21, has raised concerns over fuel supplies in Bulgaria ahead of winter, where Lukoil operates the Burgas...

Saudi Aramco's decision to reduce the price of crude oil it sells to Asian refiners in December has been seen as an attempt to gain market share, amid fears of global oversupply. The reduction in Saudi crude oil was lower than the forecasts of Asian refiners. It seems to be a way for the world's largest crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, to remain competitive against other grades while giving it flexibility should China or India reject Russian barrels due U.S. sanctions. Aramco lowered last week its official selling price for its benchmark Arab Light for Asian customers by $1 per barrel...

Ukraine has launched British Storm Shadow missiles as well as its own?domestically-produced long-range drones in order to target several Russian oil and?gas?facilities. Ukraine used British-made missiles in the past to strike Russian industrial targets, which it claims help Moscow's war. The Ukrainian General Staff stated that the air force had used Storm Shadow missiles to attack the Novoshakhtinsk refinery located in the Rostov Region of Russia. "Multiple explosions have been recorded." On Thursday, the General Staff announced on Telegram that the target was "hit". The refinery was said to be one of the largest oil suppliers in southern Russia, and...

Vitalii Maltskyi, the mayor of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, said that Russian forces had launched a combined airstrike overnight on infrastructure, causing water and power outages. Kremenchuk, located on the Dnipro River in Ukraine, is a major industrial center and home to a large oil refinery. The city was repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles. In 2022, a strike on a busy shopping mall killed at least 21. Maletskyi stated in a post on social media that the details of the strike's consequences would be revealed later Sunday, after damage assessments are completed. He added that city services were working on...

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,...

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, reported a 70% drop in net income from January to September, falling by $3.57 billion or 277 billion Russian roubles. The company attributed the decline to high interest rates and cheaper oil, as well as a stronger rouble. Shell and TotalEnergies have seen their quarterly profits fall due to lower oil prices. Rosneft stated that the increased "anti-terror" security was putting additional pressure on its results. The company didn't elaborate on specific security measures. Ukraine has increased drone attacks against Russia's energy infrastructure. Rosneft reported that its revenues dropped 17.8% to 6.29 trillion rubles in...

India's oil exports to Russia are expected to reach their highest level for five months in November, according to preliminary data from Kpler, as refiners scrambled to secure barrels before a U.S. date to stop transactions with Russian oil producers sanctioned by the United States. India, which is the third largest oil importer in the world, was the biggest purchaser of discounted Russian crude shipped by sea after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit South Asia next month. His last visit was in December of 2021, just a few months after...

India's Russian crude oil imports will be at their lowest level in three years by December. They were already higher than they had been for several months in November as refiners sought alternatives to avoid violating Western sanctions. The United States, Britain and the European Union have all tightened sanctions against Moscow in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Washington's most recent measures target top Russian oil producers Rosneft, and Lukoil. The deadline for buyers of Russian oil to end their dealings with these two companies was November 21. Separately the EU set a deadline of 21 January after which...

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...

Analysts and trade sources reported that Asian oil refinery profits had risen to their highest level in 20 months. This was due to a strong diesel performance, which has been boosted by a tightening of the outlook following US sanctions against two major Russian suppliers. Singapore's complex refinery margin, a proxy of Asia's refining profitability rose to almost $9 a barrel Tuesday, the highest since February 2024. LSEG data shows that it was about $2 a barrel early October. The global diesel market has been the main driver of strength in recent weeks, with a strong demand and tighter supplies....

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...

Crude oil prices have been driven primarily by the unwinding of OPEC+'s production cuts, China's storage flows, and geopolitical tensions this year. This is likely to continue for the foreseeable. It is important to understand the factors that influence the market. It is impossible to predict with accuracy the future of these factors. Forecasting the market is a difficult task for the crude oil industry because all three factors are unpredictable and can change rapidly. The Energy Markets Forum, held in Fujairah (the hub for oil storage and shipping in the United Arab Emirates) this week, was a place where...

Four market sources said on Friday that the price of Russia's Urals Crude Oil for delivery to India, its top buyer, is increasing despite rising sanctions risks. This is because Ukrainian attacks on Russian pipelines and ports as well as tightened sanctions have led to concerns over supply. In September, Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted the export of oil and increased production risks. This forced Russia to ship oil to western ports in order to reduce the impact. Four sources who are involved in Russian oil exports to India reported that the discount on Urals crude October loading has decreased to...

Two industry sources reported on Monday that one of Russia's biggest oil refineries in the town of Kirishi (northwest) had halted an important processing unit after a Ukrainian drone attacked over the weekend. Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russia's infrastructure to damage Moscow's war effort, as the talks to end the conflict have stagnated. Russian officials have said Surgutneftegaz's Kirishinefteorgsintez plant, one of Russia's top two refineries, was among the targets attacked by Ukrainian drones last Sunday. Alexander Drozdenko is the Governor of Leningrad Region. He said that three drones had been destroyed in the Kirishi region and that a...