June 28, 2012:

MARCUS HOOK — Wednesday’s release of a report outlining seven potential uses for the former Sunoco Inc. refinery in the borough was likened to the dawn of a new era. “This is the modern-day equivalent of driving the golden spike at Promontory Point, which linked East to West economically and in infrastructure and in every other way,” state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer said. “That’s how dramatic and how historic I think this moment is.” In March, Delaware County Council announced they had allocated $100,000 to perform the study. In May, they directed the county Industrial Development Authority to hire IHS Global to perform the evaluation.

“We are presenting an economic study that we believe will lay out the groundwork for the economic second life for Marcus Hook,” county council Chairman Thomas J. McGarrigle said, “a second life that puts Delaware County and its workers on the map as we chart the future of a global and energy economy.” He said he was enthused by the report. “You could say we’re energized because the future of these refineries is the future of energy,” McGarrigle said. “We need to look at all the energy resources and how best to use them.” Marcus Hook Mayor Jay Schiliro shared his satisfaction. “Industrial neighbors come and go, but we must now look ahead,” he said. “We are proud of our past but excited about our future.”

The “Sunoco Marcus Hook Industrial Complex Economic Opportunity Reuse Study” outlined seven best uses for the site, which would require between $300 million to $6 billion in investments to create anywhere from 50 to 400 jobs. The seven proposed reuse options include: A propane dehydrogenation plant; a natural gas liquids processing facility; a refined petroleum products storage plant; natural gas power generation; ethane cracking and derivatives; a liquefied natural gas export terminal; and a gas-to-liquids production/storage facility.  County officials commissioned the study after Sunoco Inc. officials announced they planned to shut the 175,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Delaware County and the 330,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Philadelphia if new owners weren’t located. In December, they idled the Marcus Hook facility and in February, a majority of the work force was terminated.

Two months ago, Sunoco entered into a $5.3 billion merger agreement with Energy Transfer Partners. On Wednesday, the county-hired consultant revealed its recommendations for the best uses for the site, which county, regional and state officials will use to market the facility and attract a buyer for it. Joseph Waldo, director of state and local government consulting for IHS Global, said the firm evaluated the feasibility of the complex, market viability, capital costs involved in investing and job creations for each of the options. “Without the exploration of shale gas ... many of those reuse options would not have been possible,” he said. Krancer agreed. “This report, if it had been done two years ago, would have taken about an hour and would only had one alternative,” he said. “What we’re seeing is a rebirth of the American petrochemical industry, which could happen right here.”

By Daily Times

June 23, 2012:

State oil and gas Petrovietnam group will sell shares in its subsidiary, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co which is the operator of the country's only oil refinery, to the public within this year, the government said. The operator of the $2.2-billion Dung Quat refinery will have less state ownership along with 92 other state-owned enterprises this year, the Finance Ministry said in a statement issued late on Friday, but gave no values or any specific dates. It uses the term 'equitisation' instead of privatisation to describe the process of reducing state ownership via initial public offerings, in which the state retains a majority of shares. The ministry did not say how much of the stake in Binh Son would be offered to the public. An IPO in Vietnam is separate from a listing, which can come several years after the shares have been sold to the public. The refinery operator is the only firm run by Petrovietnam to go public this year, according to a Finance Ministry list seen by Reuters.

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, established in 2008, is located in the central province of Quang Ngai, where the 130,500-barrel-per-day refinery was built by French oil services group Technip and has been operational since May 2010. The company has also been seeking to sell a 49 percent stake in the refinery, now fully owned by Petrovietnam, to foreign investors to raise funds and boost its capacity by 54 percent to 10 million tonnes. Many state-owned enterprises, which take out most of the bank loans in Vietnam, have been losing money, while government reform to diversify state ownership via privatisation has been slow, upsetting investors. Last week the government required state-owned enterprises to disclose their financial statements, as the country seeks to raise the competitiveness of the public sector and boost investor confidence.

By Reuters

June 23, 2012:

Gasoline in Los Angeles advanced to the highest level against futures in three weeks on speculation that refiners are buying fuel and after Tesoro Corp. (TSO) (TSO)’s Los Angeles plant suspended work on a new unit. BP Plc (BP/) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) (XOM) were performing planned work on units at their refineries near Los Angeles. California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, inventories dropped 3.9 percent last week to 4.55 million barrels, the lowest level in a month, the state Energy Commission said. Carbob in Los Angeles jumped 6.75 cents to a premium of 4.75 cents a gallon versus August gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:47 p.m. East Coast time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prompt-delivery of the fuel increased 9.02 cents to $2.5222 a gallon. Tesoro was ordered by city regulators to halt work on a new $40 million vacuum distillation unit at the Los Angeles refinery that would boost the plant’s gasoline, diesel and jet fuel yields. The company started work without completing inspections required by the city, David Lara, a spokesman for the Los Angeles building and safety department, said.

City inspectors are waiting on testing data from Tesoro “to see if there’s an evaluation they can do without having to tear everything out and start over,” Lara said by telephone from Los Angeles yesterday. Carbob in San Francisco rose 6.75 cents a gallon to 2.75 cents a gallon above futures. California-blend, or CARB, diesel in Los Angeles, slipped 0.13 cent to a 4.25-cent-a-gallon premium over Nymex heating oil futures. San Francisco CARB diesel was unchanged at 4.13 cents a gallon above futures. The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Portland, Oregon, narrowed 4 cents to 7 cents a gallon. Low- sulfur diesel there rose 3.25 cents to 9.5 cents a gallon above heating oil futures.

By Bloomberg

June 23, 2012:

ConocoPhillips through Phillips66 finalized the sale of the 185,000-barrel-per-day Trainer refinery to a Delta Air Lines subsidiary today, ending a nine-month saga that saw hundreds lose and then return to their jobs. Delta officials plan to operate the facility under its subsidiary, Monroe Energy LLC, and employees are expected to return to the refinery Monday. “We have a team of refining experts and proven leaders effectively implementing our strategy at the Trainer refinery,” Jeffrey Warmann, chief executive officer and president of Monroe Energy LLC, said. “We are eager to start the work before us and (are) humbled by this opportunity to make a difference in this community.” Delta officials said Monroe will start a turnaround at the facility after July 4 with the fall as a target for resuming fuel production. Delta senior manager Eric Torbenson said the company will employ about 400 workers at the facility. “Monroe would like to thank the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Delaware County and the Pennsylvania Federal Delegation for their support in helping make this project a success,” he said.

Last month, Delta and ConocoPhillips representatives announced the two companies had reached an agreement that would allow Delta to purchase the refinery for $180 million, $30 million of which would come from the state. Delta was considering purchasing a refinery to manufacture jet fuel, on which the company spent $12 billion last year alone. Through buying this facility, Delta officials expect to reap about 80 percent of their domestic jet fuel needs. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission unanimously approved the application to transfer pipeline and transportation assets from ConocoPhillips to Monroe, allowing for jet fuel to be moved from the Delaware County refinery to Philadelphia International Airport, as well as LaGuardia and JFK International airports in New York.

Last week, Delaware County Council directed the county Redevelopment Authority to divert $1 million in gaming revenue to Monroe to invest in pipeline improvement with the caveat that Monroe invest $218 million in the site while also employing a minimum of 402 permanent jobs and more than 600 construction jobs. In September, ConocoPhillips idled the 400-employee Trainer refinery, citing market pressure on the East Coast, product imports, weakness in demand and regulatory requirements. Most of the workers were terminated in January. In December, Sunoco Inc. idled the Marcus Hook refinery and most of the 600 employees there were eliminated in February.  Sunoco officials also announced in September that the 900-employee Philadelphia refinery would close this summer if a new owner for the facility wasn’t found. Last month, those officials extended the deadline after designating The Carlyle Group as the exclusive bidder for the facility. That process is ongoing.

After the fall announcements were made, members of the United Steelworkers Union campaigned in Harrisburg and Washington, educating elected officials of their plight. In turn, U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, of Upper Darby, held a field hearing of the U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence in March, and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., held a hearing of the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee in April to determine the impacts of these refinery closures both regionally and nationally.

By Daily Times

June 23, 2012:

OLYMPIA, Wash. — U.S. Oil & Refining Co. has been fined $28,500 by the state Department of Ecology for a diesel fuel spill on Tacoma's Blair Waterway in 2010. Ecology announced the fine Friday. The 75-gallon spill happened while the Tacoma-based refinery was testing a new 8-inch pipeline located between two of its fueling docks along the waterway on Nov. 30, 2010. U.S. Oil must pay the penalty within 30 days or can appeal it. Separately, it also paid $1,500 to the state for the environmental harm caused by the spill, including damages to water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. That money will be used to fund restoration projects in the area where the spill occurred. The state is also seeking an additional $8,600 for costs associated with responding to the spill.

By The Seattle Times