June 6, 2012:

Aviation fuel has been sent to Manchester Airport after it ran out of supplies. A spokesman for the Essar refinery in Cheshire, which pipes fuel to the airport, said production was "now back to normal". Stocks are expected to return to average levels by Thursday morning, an airport spokesman said. The airport said a "handful of flights, perhaps five", might be delayed by up to an hour in the morning. A spokesman said: "The fuel supply from the refinery came back on at 5.30pm, it takes four hours for the fuel to get from the refinery to the airport, and it will then need time to settle. "It will be released on to the airfield to the hydrants at 8.30am." The airport uses about three million litres of aviation fuel a day, with the majority of supplies coming from the refinery at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port. A spokesman for the refinery said the shortage was caused by "production issues".Russell Craig, head of communications for Manchester Airport, said: "We don't want this to happen, but equally we aren't prepared to take any risks with fuel and with aircraft safety."

He added: "We came close to running out in April 2008, when we saw a similar issue with the supply but fortunately at the 11th hour the fuel was able to start moving again." Passengers planning to fly from the airport have been told to check with their airline before they leave. Shell sold the refinery to Indian company Essar Energy last year.

By BBC News

June 5, 2012:

Defending his proposed $1.7 billion tax break for a planned petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday the facility would be a major step toward rebuilding the state's manufacturing sector.

"My whole goal is to grow good, sustaining jobs for the people of Pennsylvania, not just today but for decades to come," Corbett said in his first public comments about the tax proposal during an appearance on the R.J. Harris show on WHP Talk Radio in Harrisburg.

Shell Oil Co. has picked a site about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for its refinery, which would capitalize on the natural-gas drilling that is rapidly expanding across the Marcellus Shale region. It has signed a land-option agreement that allows it to further evaluate the location. The 25-year tax credit, worth as much as $66 million a year starting in 2017, requires legislative approval and would be added to other enticements the state is offering to seal the deal. Ohio and West Virginia included similar sweeteners in their unsuccessful bids for the refinery. Shell's "cracker" facility would convert ethane from natural gas into more profitable chemicals such as ethylene, which is used in making products that include plastics, tires and footwear. Shell has said it could spend billions of dollars on the project, although actual construction is still years away. The Washington, D.C.-based American Chemistry Council said 26 of the nation's 29 crackers are on the Gulf Coast, and no other new cracker is being proposed in the northeastern United States.

A spokeswoman for Shell, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC, said the evaluation of the project is continuing, but that the company's approach to investing "is to advance only those opportunities that are likely to provide long-term shareholder value." The company welcomes such government incentive offers, spokeswoman Emily Oberton said in an email sent Monday. "We will carefully consider it as one of a variety of factors to determine the economic viability of our proposed petrochemical project." Corbett said the refinery would attract other plants that would create jobs and other spinoff benefits for the state's economy. "What this is really aimed at is growing a manufacturing base all across Pennsylvania," he said. At a Capitol news conference on another topic Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley said he hopes the Legislature will approve the plan promptly.

"Every signal we can send to Shell that we are serious about siting their facility in Beaver County as quickly as we can do so is obviously going to aid us in making sure that they're breaking ground here in Pennsylvania soon," he said. Corbett said the refinery would attract other plants that would create jobs and other spinoff benefits for the state's economy. "What this is really aimed at is growing a manufacturing base all across Pennsylvania," he said.

By The Republic

June 5, 2012:

A gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at Valero Energy Corp's 125,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Meraux, Louisiana, was operating at planned rates on Tuesday, company spokesman Bill Day said. Valero shut the FCC on Jan. 10 for an overhaul of the refinery's alky unit, which uses refining byproducts to make octane-boosting additives for gasoline. In May, Valero said it was evaluating the economics of restarting the units at the refinery, which have been shut since January.

By Reuters

June 5, 2012:

Japanese refiner Nansei Sekiyu KK, wholly owned by Brazil's Petrobras, said on Tuesday that oil refining operations at its 100,000-barrels-per-day Nishihara facility in Okinawa, southwestern Japan, continued as normal as a typhoon passed near the area. However, all marine operations at the refinery have closed since Monday morning as a preventive measure, the company said. The typhoon is currently moving east-northeast at 50 km per hour with winds of up to 144 kph and is expected to stay clear of Japan's main island of Honshu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

By Reuters

Defending a proposed $1.7 billion tax break for a planned petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday the facility would be a major step toward rebuilding the state's manufacturing sector. "My whole goal is to grow good, sustaining jobs for the people of Pennsylvania, not just today but for decades to come," Corbett said in his first public comments about the tax proposal during an appearance on the R.J. Harris show on WHP Talk Radio in Harrisburg.

Shell Oil Co. has picked a site about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for its refinery, which would capitalize on the natural-gas drilling that is rapidly expanding across the Marcellus Shale region. It has signed a land-option agreement that allows it to further evaluate the location.  The 25-year tax credit, worth as much as $66 million a year starting in 2017, requires legislative approval and would be added to other enticements the state is offering to seal the deal. Ohio and West Virginia included similar sweeteners in their unsuccessful bids for the refinery.

Shell's "cracker" facility would convert ethane from natural gas into more profitable chemicals such as ethylene, which is used in making products that include plastics, tires and footwear. Shell has said it could spend billions of dollars on the project, although actual construction is still years away. A spokeswoman for Shell, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC, said the evaluation of the project is continuing, but that the company's approach to investing "is to advance only those opportunities that are likely to provide long-term shareholder value." The company welcomes such government incentive offers, spokeswoman Emily Oberton said in an email sent Monday. "We will carefully consider it as one of a variety of factors to determine the economic viability of our proposed petrochemical project."

Corbett said the refinery would attract other plants that would create jobs and other spinoff benefits for the state's economy. "What this is really aimed at is growing a manufacturing base all across Pennsylvania," he said.

By Timesonline.com