Refining News

China's Shandong refining hub has begun releasing millions of barrels of oil that were stuck at ports after inspections curbed imports into the province, trading sources said following a meeting this week between officials and refiners.The easing of curbs placed on China's top oil importing province in mid-April will help free up inflows of heavy crude from Venezuela and Iran, they said. In a meeting hosted by the Shandong government on Tuesday between customs officials and independent refiners…

The Philippine unit of Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it will permanently shut one of the country's two oil refineries, blaming a pandemic-led slump in margins, with other regional closures likely to follow, according to analysts.Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp said its 110,000-barrel-per-day Tabangao facility in Batangas province, which began operations in 1962, was no longer economically viable and would be turned into an import terminal.Singapore's complex refining margin…

The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela has moored at a port serving the El Palito refinery, the oil minister said on Monday, and Refinitiv Eikon data showed a second vessel had entered its waters.Iran is providing Venezuela with 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and refining components in a move criticized by U.S. authorities as both countries are under U.S. sanctions, according to the governments, sources and calculations by TankerTrackers.com.Refinitiv Eikon data showed that the tanker Fortune docked at one of El Palito's berths around 1 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).Tareck El Aissami, Venezuela's economy vice president and recently named oil minister…

The head of Libya's state oil firm warned on Monday that if the international community tolerates a blockade on the country's oil industry it would be complicit in ending the rule of law in the country.The 10-day old blockade is the most extensive for years, shutting down fields and ports in the east and south of Libya and causing production to plunge to 262,000 barrels per day (bpd) from around 1.2 million.Production has gradually been falling since the blockade began as storage capacity in Libya's ports fills up, forcing Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) to shut in production upstream.NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said that at the Ras Lanuf port only 30% of storage capacity was operational…

U.S. refiners are scooping up cheap high-sulfur fuel oil for processing from Russia and the Baltic states as they take advantage of new shipping rules that have cut demand for the dirtier marine fuel, according to oil traders and shipping data.U.S. refiners Valero Corp, Chevron Corp and Phillips 66 have been buying HSFO, traders said, taking advantage of their complex operations to turn HSFO blended with crude oils into products like diesel, gasoil and gasoline.This month, 2.2 million tonnes of fuel oil…

Workers at France's Port Jerome and Fos refineries, which are run by Exxon, have decided to go on strike, the CGT union wrote on a union blog page on Tuesday.Officials at Exxon in France could not be immediately reached for a comment.France's Prime Minister said earlier on Tuesday that the country was not at risk of a fuel shortage, despite the wave of protests against government plans to change the country's pensions system. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Louise Heavens)

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Wednesday that a fuel leak, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive blaze at a Mitsui & Co Ltd petrochemical storage operation along the Houston Ship Channel in March.The fire that began on March 17 at Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) spread black smoke across Houston, shut the nearby ship channel, slowed production at local oil refineries and closed roadways and schools as it spread from one giant storage…

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced that it has signed another significant long-term sales agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) for its high-quality base oil called ADbase.IndianOil is the largest seller of finished lubricants in the Indian market with approximate volume of 450,000 tonnes per annum. The total Indian market for finished lubricants is 2 million tonnes and is growing at the rate of 2.4 per cent per annum.IndianOil will use the ADbase oils to manufacture high end engine oils for India’s growing automotive sector.Ahmad Bin Thalith, Acting Senior Vice President of Refined Products Sales, in ADNOC’s Marketing…