June 18, 2012:

Reuters reported that investors in an Egyptian petroleum refinery project, led by Citadel Capital and Qatar Petroleum have secured USD 3.7 billion in financing for the facility. Egypt Refining Company said that the financing, put together by private equity firm Citadel, includes USD 1.1 billion equity investment and is backed by USD 2.6 billion debt package. The ERC project is to produce more than 4.1 million tonnes of refined products and oil derivatives annually including more than 2.3 million tonnes of Euro V diesel per year. This is expected to cut Egyptian diesel imports by up to 50%. The ERC said that the refinery, on the outskirts of Cairo will contribute USD 300 million in direct benefits to the state and create jobs. It is set to start operating in 2016. The project will reduce present day diesel import needs by 50% improve air quality in the Greater Cairo Area help reduce Egypt’s annual subsidy bill.

A series of attacks on the natural gas pipeline that runs from Egypt to Israel has cut off supplies to the region and have forced Egypt to seek more fuel from abroad to meet rising demand from power generation and fuel needs for heavy vehicles. Egypt’s military rulers have sought to hike diesel imports as fuel shortages in central Cairo this year have caused long queues at petrol stations and traffic jams in some main thoroughfares, angering the public. In its latest tender, Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation was seeking to buy more than 1 million tonnes of gasoil or diesel, from July to September worth around USD 1 billion almost as much as it sought in the preceding 6 months.

Under the financing package for the refinery, EGPC has invested USD 270 million for 23.8% interest in the project while Qatar Petroleum International committed over USD 362 million for 27.9% stake. Citadel has directly and indirectly invested over USD 155 million and holds an equity stake of 11.7%. Other participants include Gulf Arab investor, the World Bank’s financing arm, the Netherlands’ development bank FMO, Germany’s private sector lender DEG and European Investment Fund’s InfraMed Fund. EFG Hermes Investment Bank acted as placement manager for the equity component. The financing is backed by USD 2.6 billion debt package arranged by ERC’s financial advisor, French bank Societe Generale and made up of senior and subordinated debt issued to Asian and African development agencies and banks.

By Retuers

June 17, 2012:

RODEO (CBS SF) — Contra Costa County hazardous materials officials said Sunday that a gas leak in a water tank at a ConocoPhillips refinery in Rodeo had been contained. The leak in the 1.5-million gallon tank containing sulphur-water was first reported Friday morning at about 7 a.m., when a 35-foot rupture in the tank allowed sulphurous gas to leak into the surrounding neighborhood, said Steve Morioka, assistant director of the county’s hazardous materials program.  At least 10 people reported nausea, throat irritation and respiratory symptoms due to the gas leak. The leak was sealed off early Sunday morning, Morioka said, and a health advisory that was issued on Friday was lowered at about 8:30 a.m. The incident remains under investigation, and crews are continuing to monitor air quality in the area.

By CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service

June 16, 2012:

Gasoline strengthened in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay spot markets on Friday after a storage tank leak at a Phillips 66 refinery, traders said. June-delivery CARBOB gasoline strengthened 3 cents and was offered at 5 cents a gallon under July NYMEX RBOB gasoline in both California markets after Phillips reported a release at its 120,200 barrel-per-day (bpd) Rodeo, California, refinery. A Phillips spokesman said the a leak from a storage tank caused a release of water used in the refining process. The water has a foul smell like rotten eggs. Refinery production was unaffected.

In the Portland, Oregon, market, gasoline remained at 17 cents under July NYMEX RBOB gasoline. CARB diesel in Los Angeles rose 0.5 cent in a bid-offer spread of 3.5 cents/4.5 cents over July NYMEX heating oil. In the Bay market, CARB diesel was offered 0.5 cent over L.A. Portland market diesel rose 0.5 cent to 8.5 cents a gallon over July NYMEX heating oil. Jet fuel in Los Angeles traded down 0.5 cent at 7.5 cents a gallon over July NYMEX heating oil. CARBOB and CARB diesel get their names from the California Air Resources Board, which mandates their formulas. CARBOB is a gasoline meant for use with ethanol. CARB diesel is intended to reduce pollution in California's major metropolitan areas.

Outside California's cities, ultra-low sulfur diesel as authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is used.

By Reuters

June 16, 2012:

Authorities are putting the blame for this week’s stunning increase in the price of gasoline in Michigan on supply disruptions originating in refinery shutdowns in Illinois. Gasoline prices increased as much as 29 cents a gallon in mid-Michigan this week. Fuel price wars in markets such as Gratiot County came to sudden ends, and prices became eerily uniform across the state. Four different refineries contributed to the supply disruption. In Roxanna, Ill., Conoco Phillips’ Wood River refinery moved up its scheduled maintenance shutdown to June, according to reports in the trade press. The refinery, located on the banks of the Mississippi River, is addressing environmental quality issues related to a lawsuit filed by the Illinois attorney general.

Marathon Petroleum’s Robinson, Ill., refinery also moved up scheduled maintenance. Other partial refinery shutdowns took place at Exxon Mobil’s giant Joliet, Ill., plant and Citgo’s operation in Lemont, Ill. Prices moved up across the Midwest, particularly in Michigan. According to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service through Wright Express, Michigan still has the highest state average price of any state that doesn’t border on the Pacific Ocean. And the countywide average prices in most of mid-Michigan are higher than the statewide average.  The price of oil held steady with the price of a barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil down 32 cents for the week to $84.01. Gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were unchanged to close at $2.69 a gallon Friday.

Around mid-Michigan Friday afternoon, countywide average prices looked like this:

Clare: $3.87, up 10 cents over seven days,

Gratiot: $3.81, up 29 cents from last week;

Isabella: $3.89, up 11 cents from the week before;

By TheMorningSun

June 16, 2012:

MINISTERS have been urged to meet workers set to be made redundant at an oil refinery and explain why they are not using state aid to help save hundreds of jobs, including some on Teesside. Unite accused the Government of betraying workers at the Coryton oil refinery in Essex after a decision not to apply to the European Commission for permission to use state funds to keep it open while efforts continued to find a buyer. The plant in Essex, which supplies 20% of fuel in London and the South East, was plunged into administration earlier this year by its Swiss owner Petroplus.

The closure is likely to have an impact on staff at two other locations – an oil storage site in Teesside and a research and development site in Swansea. The Teesside operation employs 60 people. Unions, politicians and other campaigners have been pressing ministers to consider putting up cash to keep the refinery going until administrators can find a buyer as its closure would drain £100m from the economy. But ministers said overcapacity in the refining industry meant it would not be sustainable to provide government help.

Unite general secretary Len McLuskey said yesterday: “Last night, the Chancellor pledged to pump in at least £100 billion into the banking system to boost lending – which bankers should be doing anyway as that’s their job – in an attempt to build a financial firewall against the situation in Greece.  “Yet a similar request from Unite for state aid in the short-term to tide over Coryton until a viable buyer is found to take over the oil refinery is dismissed by ministers out of hand. This is simply not good enough.” A Government spokesman said: “Departments across Government have looked very carefully at whether or not state aid should be provided for Coryton.

“But we have come to the conclusion that the existing overcapacity in the refining industry and declining demand for petrol mean that it would not be sustainable.”

By Nebusiness.co.uk