November 29, 2019:

The new entity will fall under the Refinery name, with the Oakbase brand ceasing to exist from the end of the year.  “I’m absolutely delighted to have been able to do this deal; it provides the clients of both agencies with greater resource and a lot of additional services,” explained Nick Bradshaw, CEO of Oakbase, who now becomes CEO of the Refinery group.  “We are now one of the largest, integrated agencies in Manchester, and the deal means we can add significant scale to the wealth of experience that the senior management teams bring with them.”  Refinery’s MD, Nigel Papworth (pictured) will be retiring.  The new group will operate out of Refinery’s existing offices in Manchester.  In 2018, Refinery was named 20th in Prolific North’s Top 50 Integrated Agencies list while Oakbase was 37th. At the time, the two agencies had a combined staff of more than a hundred. 

By prolificnorth.co.uk/

November 29, 2019:

In June 2018, two major government-owned oil companies based in the Persian Gulf region, Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), jointly signed a memorandum of understanding for setting up the world’s largest single-location refinery in Ratnagiri district of India’s Maharashtra state. A consortium comprising three Indian state-owed companies, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), were the other signatories. Recently two major occurrences threatened to stall the progress of this project: the electoral defeat of the ruling party in the Maharashtra State Assembly, the central government’s nod to strategic disinvestment from BPCL. Shiv Sena, a political party known for opposing land acquisition in Ratnagiri district for installation of a refinery, will lead the new coalition government in the state. The long agitation led by Shiv Sena in land-allocation issues forced the previous state government to relocate the project to Raigad district from its first proposed site at Nanar village in the coastal district of Ratnagiri. This shift increased the estimated cost of construction to US$70 billion from its initial estimate of $44 billion. The change in the state government will certainly have an impact on the existing deal, specifically as the new ruling coalition has a different view from its predecessor. According to media reports, the new government could overturn another large investment project between Japan and India for a bullet train in Maharashtra and reallocate the funds to forgive farmers’ debts. Similarly, the new coalition may consider increasing the rate of land acquisition and seek some compensation for the displaced farmers, causing additional costs of the refinery project and further delaying its execution. Despite the readiness of the Gulf investors, Aramco and ADNOC, to go ahead with the deal, the project has been continuously delayed because of non-clearance of land entitlement.

More trouble could arise from the Indian Finance Ministry’s intention to disinvest from one of the signatories to the refinery deal, BPCL. Aramco could bid to acquire the Indian government’s 53.29% stake in BPCL while other potential bidders could be ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips of the US, Royal Dutch Shell and BP of the UK, Rosneft and LukOil of Russia, PetroChina, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec of China, and France’s Total SA. After the announcement of the sale of the government stake in BPCL, Moody’s is mulling a downgrade in its rating of the oil company because of the change in its profile from a public to a private entity, indicating that more risk would be involved. If Aramco or the Indian company Reliance succeeds in the bid, the prospects will remain the same or may even be enhanced and hasten the refinery’s construction. Otherwise, the new investor could create problems for the deal by dictating its own terms. Besides the external issues, BPCL is facing a management crisis as its workers led a nationwide strike against the privatization of this profitable public company. Such disputes within BPCL could ultimately hamper the development of the refinery project in Maharashtra. Since the deal was signed by three national governments, and not political parties or private companies, the political transition in Maharashtra state or the nature of the ownership of BPCL may not have much impact on the basic framework of the agreement. However, lingering on the implementation cannot be ruled out due to the renegotiation of land acquisition rates and other modalities associated with the change in the state government and ownership of BPCL. Saudi Arabia’s relations with many countries have been strained over its support for India and plans for massive investments there. Therefore, the Indian government must take the necessary measures to move forward this project, which could potentially prove a milestone in achieving self-reliance in petroleum resources and will create more than 150,000 jobs during the construction and boost the state’s economy. The government also should refrain from disinvestment of BPCL as it would convert the company into a risk-bearing entity and could create a management crisis. Because of the high asset valuation of BPCL and other factors, it would seem difficult for any Indian company, even Reliance, to bid for the government stake successfully. Obviously a takeover by a foreign company, especially from a rival country in the Gulf region, could potentially drag India into the new global battleground over petroleum resources.

By Asia Times

November 28, 2018:

REFINING NZ is building New Zealand’s largest solar farm to power its refinery at Marsden Point.  The NZ$37m (US$23.3m) solar farm will supply 26.7 MW of power, providing 10% of the refinery’s electricity needs. The company said in a statement that the project will cover 31 ha and will reduce electricity costs by NZ$3-4m per year, cutting 18,000 t/y of CO2 emissions. Construction is expected to begin before the end of this year and be completed by December 2020.  Refining NZ CEO Mike Fuge said the project will improve the refinery’s edge against its larger international competitors, the New Zealand Herald reports.  Marsden Point is New Zealand’s sole refinery. It has the capacity to process 135,000 bbl/d of crude oil and produces around 58% of the country’s petrol demand, 67% of its diesel demand, and 85% of its jet fuel demand, according to figures on its website.

By https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/

November 28, 2019:

RIYADH (Reuters) - The cost of a giant oil and petrochemicals refinery project to be built jointly by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) in India is expected to reach $70 billion, WAM news agency reported on Wednesday.  A joint economic council between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia reviewed the planned plant on Wednesday at a meeting on the sidelines of Saudi Crown Prince’s visit to his Gulf ally. “The initial cost is estimated at $70 billion,” a statement said.  The 1.2 million barrels-per-day (bpd) coastal refinery in the western state of Maharashtra is expected to be built at Roha in the Raigad district, about 100 km (60 miles) south of Mumbai, sources told Reuters in August.  In September, India’s oil minister said the refinery would cost more than the originally planned $45 billion.

By Reuters

October 12, 2019:

HOUSTON  - Lyondell Basell Industries was raising the production level of the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 263,776 barrel-per-day Houston refinery on Friday, which was shut earlier in the day, Gulf Coast market sources said.  The 120,000 bpd Unit 536 CDU was shut at midday on Friday after water was found in the crude being processed in the unit, the sources said.  It will be at least midday Saturday before the unit returns to full production, according to the sources.  CDUs do the primary refining of crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks for all other production units in a refinery to convert into motor fuels.

By Reuters