UAE produces 2.6 mbpd of oil
ABU DHABI: The UAE produced around 2.6 million barrels a day (mbpd) of crude in December, its oil minister Mohammed Al Hamli said.

He said the current production capacity of the Opec member  was 2.8 mbpd and he hoped it would rise at some point this year to 3 mbpd – a figure the country had been expecting to near at around the end of 2012.

Lukoil, Mercuria win gas tender
LONDON: Lukoil and Mercuria won Egypt’s latest tender for around 330,000 tonnes for gasoil for delivery in February and March, traders said. The two companies will deliver the gasoil to the ports of Alexandria and El Delkhelia. Egypt’s state oil company EGPC previously tendered to buy 500,000 tonnes of gasoil in early December for the same ports for the full first quarter (Q1).

Tesoro may shut Hawaii refinery
NEW YORK: Tesoro Corp told local officials that it will likely shut down its Kapolei, Hawaii, refinery after failing to find a buyer for the state’s largest oil processing plant, Hawaii News Now reported on its website. The company had put the 93,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery up for sale earlier last year.

Tesoro officials met with the state to discuss the latest development, the news agency reported, citing sources.

Rosneft denies raising oil sales
MOSCOW: Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft quashed a local newspaper report that the company may boost crude oil deliveries to China, possibly as security on debt financing for its $55 billion purchase of rival oil firm TNK-BP. Rosneft said the report that the issue would be addressed at a forthcoming meeting between its management and China National Petroleum Corp was inaccurate, but confirmed the meeting would take place.

Petrobras finds quality oil
SAO PAULO: Brazil’s Petrobras said it had found “good quality” oil in a test well off the coast of Espirito Santo state, expanding discoveries in one of the world’s most promising offshore oil frontiers. The oil, at 29 degrees on the American Petroleum Institute  scale, was found in a new well, known as Arjuna, located on the edge of a prospect first discovered in December 2010.

SunPower inks $2.5bn deal
NEW YORK: SunPower Corp said it sold two large solar projects in California to a company controlled by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and would receive up to $2.5 billion in proceeds and related contracts.

The Antelope Valley solar projects, which SunPower says is the world’s largest photovoltaic power development, have been sold to a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co, a part of Berkshire Hathaway. Construction for the projects – with a combined capacity of 579 megawatt – will begin in the first quarter of 2013 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

SunPower will get between $2.0 billion and $2.5 billion for the projects including charges for designing, installing and constructing the projects, the company said in a regulatory filing. Shares of SunPower were up 9 per cent at $6.14 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

Argentina cuts oil export tax
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina unveiled a new system of export taxes on oil shipments that will cut levies as the government seeks to lure investment to revive stagnant production.

The change means energy companies will receive $70 per barrel of exported oil, up from $42 previously. Argentina controls the price of oil exports in order to guarantee domestic supply.

Until now the state kept the difference between the international price for Argentine crude – currently between $80 and $90 per barrel – and the reference price of $42.

The reform means that the state will only retain the difference between the market prices and $70, meaning increased revenue for oil companies that export crude. Energy analysts said the measure, which was published in the government’s Official Gazette, will have the most benefit for Argentina’s Pan American Energy (PAE).

NNPC borrows $1.5bn
LAGOS/GENEVA: Nigerian state oil firm NNPC has obtained a $1.5 billion syndicated loan to help it pay debts to international fuel traders, a senior banking source with knowledge of the deal said.

The deal struck at the end of last year is seen as crucial to easing the burden on big commodity traders, who were facing the prospect of painful multi-million dollar write-offs, oil trading sources told Reuters.

BP FCC 1 resumes operations
HOUSTON: BP’s 400,780 barrel per day (bpd) Texas City, Texas, refinery was restarting gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking (FCC) No 1, according to a notice filed with Texas pollution regulators. Initial restart was expected to finish, according to the notice filed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.    

Petrobras discovers oil
BRASILIA: Brazilian state-led oil company Petrobras said it made an oil discovery in the off-shore Marlim Sul field at the Campos basin.

Petrobras found a 100-m column of hydrocarbon at a depth of 2,965 m with crude quality of between 13 and 16 degrees on the American Petroleum Institute (API) scale. It said the oil was of quality similar to that found at the Marlim Sul field, which is one of its main production fields. Tests to evaluate the productivity of the reservoir should be concluded this year, the company said.

Exxon spill made worse by delay
WASHINGTON: An ExxonMobil pipeline spill into the Yellowstone River in 2011 would have been far less severe if the company had not delayed closing valves, a report issued by federal pipeline regulators said.

Exxon’s Silvertip pipeline, which carries 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in Montana, leaked about 1,500 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone River in July 2011 after the region suffered heavy flooding. Had ExxonMobil Pipeline Company’s shutdown procedures required remote controlled valves to be closed immediately after a leak, “the crude oil release volume would have been much less,” said a US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration report obtained by Reuters.

Petrobras begins production
SAO PAULO:  Brazil’s state-led oil company, Petrobras, said, it had begun pumping oil commercially in the Sapinhoa field, one of the country’s biggest offshore reserves, as the company struggles to boost flagging output.

The initial well has the potential to produce 25,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), but production will be limited to 15,000 bpd for an initial three months after operations began, the company said in a filing.

Oil tanker hits Bay Bridge
SAN FRANCISCO: An empty oil tanker struck a tower of the San Francisco Bay Bridge but did not appear to spill any oil into the bay, the US Coast Guard and California state officials said.

The 750-ft-long “Overseas Reymar,” sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, was leaving the bay amid heavy fog when its starboard hull scraped one of the towers supporting the Bay Bridge.

Officials played down the incident, which occurred about8 km from the Golden Gate Bridge, where the San Francisco Bay opens into the Pacific Ocean.

Enbridge plans $600m pipeline
NEW YORK: Enbridge said it will expand its oil pipeline system in Canada between Alberta and the US border at a cost of about C$400 million (about $400 million).

Canada is the largest source of crude oil imports to the United States, shipping more than 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) to refineries primarily in the Midwest.

Enbridge’s expansion of the Canadian mainline system, which will require regulatory approvals, will add an additional 230,000 bpd of capacity.

The expanded pipeline system is expected to be in service in 2015.

The company early last month proposed a C$6.2 billion expansion of its oil pipeline system, aimed at moving surging volumes of light crude from Western Canada and the North Dakota Bakken to refineries in the eastern part of the continent and US Midwest.

Flint Hills repairs steam line
HOUSTON: Flint Hills Resources’ 284,172 barrel per day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery repaired a leaking steam line, according to a notice issued by the Corpus Christi/Nueces County Local Emergency Planning Committee.The steam line began leakingrnoon, according to another message filed with the committee.    A refinery uses steam in the process of refining crude oil into motor fuels.

Phillips 66 restarts unit
HOUSTON: Phillips 66’s 247,000 barrel per day (bpd) Sweeny, Texas, refinery restarted a hydrogen purification unit compressor, according to a notice filed with Texas pollution regulators.

Before restarting the compressor, the unit released hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide along with other substances beyond limits allowed in the refinery’s operating permit, according to the notice filed with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Valero reports SRU upset
NEW YORK:  Valero Energy reported a sulphur recovery Unit-545 (SRU) upset at its 292,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Valero spokesman Bill day said there was no impact to production at the refinery due to the malfunction.

Arabplast expo opens
DUBAI: Arabplast 2013, the Middle East’s premier trade show for rubber, plastics and petrochemicals, opened in Dubai, featuring a record number of 900 companies from 41 countries.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, who stressed the importance of plastics and petrochemicals industry as the UAE has made remarkable growth in the production of raw materials and in adopting best technologies and practices from countries like Germany, Austria and Japan.

He said that the UAE industrial sector contributed 16 per cent to the GDP in 2012, and this percentage is expected to rise up to 3 per cent in 2013. Al Mansoori said the UAE industrial sector was driven by three key pillars: petrochemicals, aluminium and steel.

Oman to raise gas prices
MUSCAT: Oman will double natural gas prices for some industrial consumers by 2015, with a rise of 33 per cent for 2013 alone, Oman’s minister for financial affairs told Reuters a rare Middle Eastern move to slash fuel subsidies.

The Omani government and some major industrial consumers have agreed that gas prices will rise from $1.5 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) in 2012 to $2/mmbtu in 2013, Darwish Al-Balushi said. In 2014 prices will rise to $2.5, then hit $3 in 2015 with further rises expected in years beyond that, he said.

Gas-hungry industry has flourished in the Middle East on fuel priced at a fraction of international levels but its future growth is in doubt unless more sources can be developed.

Aminat wins ISO 9001
RIYADH: Saudi-based Aminat, a joint venture between Huntsman Corporation and Zamil Chemplast, said it has won the key ISO 9001 certification in recognition of the operational performance and professional skills at its Jubail plant.

John Smyth, the VP of Huntsman’s EMEA Performance Products business, said: “This is a remarkable achievement for a site which only began production two years ago. It confirms our commitment to product quality and customer service and is a recognition of the world class operational performance, high level of skills, and excellent teamwork within Aminat.”

Iran oil revenues down
TEHRAN: Iran’s oil sales revenues have slumped by 45 per cent since last March and are likely to remain low over the next three months, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi told a parliamentary budget committee.

Qasemi has typically played down the impact of Western restrictions on oil sales but he told Iranian MPs  that sales volumes had fallen by 40 per cent over the last nine months while earnings had dropped by 45 per cent, Isna quoted the spokesman for the budget and planning committee as saying.

Qatar firms to offer tours
DOHA: Ras Abu Fontas Power and Desalination Plant and Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), two of Qatar’s leading establishments, will open their doors to technical tours as part of an upcoming energy summit in Doha. The 11th annual Power-Gen Middle East will take place from February 4 to 6 at Qatar National Convention Centre. The tours, opening on February 4, will provide a rare behind the scenes view of Ras Abu Fontas and QSTP’s facilities.