Alpek to pay up to $700m
SAO PAULO: Mexico’s Alpek is expected to offer up to $700 million for Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s petrochemicals units in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, announced exclusive talks with the Mexican group over the sale of PetroquímicaSuape and Citepe. The Brazilian company and Alpek will negotiate the deal for 60 days. Petrobras’ petrochemical units have accumulated 5.6 billion reais ($1.7 billion) in losses over the last two years, which included impairment charges related to the largest-ever corruption probe in Brazil.
Marathon shuts crude unit
NEW YORK: Marathon Petroleum Corp unexpectedly shut down the lone crude unit and associated vacuum distillation unit at its 212,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Robinson, Illinois, according to two sources familiar with the plant’s operations. The company shut the units after discovering a leak and plans on restarting the units by the end of the week, one of the two sources said. The outage, combined with others, has strengthened cash prices for gasoline and diesel products in the Midwest market, traders said. US gasoline futures performed better than domestic and global oil, falling by less than 1 per cent to settle at $1.30 a gallon. US crude futures fell by 3.7 per cent to settle at $40.06 a barrel.
Mexico to revise methodology
MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s oil regulator voted to begin the process of revising the methodology used to calculate the country’s crude oil reserves. Juan Carlos Zepeda, president of the National Hydrocarbons Commission, said the goal of the revision is to make the process "simpler, more efficient" and avoid delays in calculating reserves. The regulator did not offer any details on how the current process might change, or when it expects to put into effect the new rules.
Output resumes at Norco
HOUSTON: Motiva Enterprises returned the gasoline-producing unit at its 237,700 barrel per day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana refinery to normal production after completing the unit’s restart, sources familiar with plant operations said. A Motiva spokesman said planned maintenance had been completed at the Norco refinery. He declined to say which units were involved in the work. The 112,000-bpd residual catalytic cracking unit (RCCU) restarted, but Motiva was working to get the unit’s output within specification before resuming normal production, the sources said. The RCCU was shut for repairs on July 21.
Pampa eyes next year for bond
NEW YORK: Argentine energy company Pampa Energia is aiming to issue bonds early next year once it fully completes its merger with Petrobras Argentina, a company source told IFR.
The company is expected to take out a $600m one-year bridge loan in the bond market. The loan is part of a larger funding package to cover the cost of the $897m purchase of Petrobras Argentina and possibly a cash tender for minority shareholders.
"The bridge loan is maturing in one year, but we would rather go out to the markets once we have the merger formally done – so at the beginning of 2017," the source said.
Phillips reports boiler shut
HOUSTON: Phillips 66 reported a steam boiler tripped out of production at its 347,000 barrel per day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana refinery, said a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. A Phillips 66 spokesman was not immediately available to discuss operations at the refinery. Energy industry intelligence service Genscape said the 120,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit, 33,000 bpd reformer, along with naphtha and diesel hydrotreaters went out of production at the Alliance refinery. Jean Kelly, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said Phillips 66 did not provide information about shut units at the Alliance refinery in reporting boiler outage.
Husky oil spill partly recovered
TORONTO: About half of the oil that leaked from a Husky Energy pipeline into a western Canadian river more than a week ago has been recovered, but there is no immediate deadline for when the cleanup will conclude, officials said. More than 1,570 barrels of heavy oil and diluent leaked from Husky’s Saskatchewan Gathering System pipeline on July 21, flowing into the North Saskatchewan River. The spill is still threatening the drinking water of riverside communities, officials from the province of Saskatchewan said in a telephone conference call with reporters.
Tesoro plans flaring
NEW YORK: Tesoro Corp warned of planned flaring at its 240,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Los Angeles-area refinery in Carson, California, according to a filing with state pollution regulators.
Tesoro took over the refinery from BP BP.L on June 1, 2013 as part of a $2.5-million purchase. A refinery uses its safety flare when hydrocarbons cannot be processed normally due to a malfunction or planned work.
Memphis refinery output unaffected
HOUSTON: Production at Valero Energy Corp’s 190,000 per day (bpd) Memphis, Tennessee, refinery has not been affected by the shutdown of its sole hydrogen plant over the weekend, sources familiar with plant operations said.
