January 9, 2019:

While many Bangladeshi families have been staying inside the Paradip Oil Refinery boundary near Udaybata village for long, no action from the IOCL authorities have worried natives a lot.  The Bangladeshis, who have illegally occupied the IOCL land, have broken a portion of the boundary wall at Udaybata village side and going outside through the way.  About 30 Bangladeshi families have created a colony there. An inhabitant named Bhanu Amity said that his grandfather had come to Paradip in 1976. And they were living at Ghanagalia slum, which is now inside the port prohibited area. Later, his family was shifted to Udayabata village in 2000 with a plot 20× 15ft allotted in his name by the PPT. But he sold the plot to a businessman at Rs 3 lakh. Then, he built a thatched house without PPT permission and stayed upto 2009. His family and many other families are staying in the locality for the last 9 years. The residents have been issued Voter Indentity and Aadhaar cards. The Paradip Municipality has built a bridge for communication to the IOCL boundary.  Sources said some illegal activities like trading of excise materials and gambling are going on in the area. Some outsiders are staying there for the two weeks. Why the refinery authorities have not taken any action against the illegal inhabitants yet, many wanted to know.

By Thepioneer.com

January 8, 2019:

WILLEMSTAD - Curacao’s 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Isla refinery has resumed work, management of the government-owned facility said on Tuesday, after eight months of paralysis caused by a dispute between its operator, Venezuela’s PDVSA, and U.S. producer ConocoPhillips.  Isla, which has been looking for a new operator to run the refinery beginning at the end of this year, restarted one of its crude distillation units and its thermal cracker, it said in a statement.  “Both units are producing gasoil and fuel oil,” it added.  The plant suffered a fire early last year and fell idle after ConocoPhillips brought legal actions against PDVSA over a $2-billion arbitration award linked to the nationalization of Conoco’s projects in Venezuela. The U.S. company got court orders temporarily seizing PDVSA’s cargoes and terminals across the Caribbean.  The parties reached a payment agreement in August. Conoco said seized assets would be released following the reception of the first installment, which was received in the fourth quarter.  The long paralysis of the island facility, which is crucial for PDVSA’s crude blending, storage and shipping operations, spurred the government of the Caribbean island, which owns the refinery, to start a process to choose a new operator.  Houston-based Motiva Enterprises, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, was chosen in December as preferred bidder to operate the refinery, according to local media, but the government has yet to confirm the decision.     Isla’s management said the restart process took longer than expected due to its lengthy paralysis. The utility company providing power and other industrial services to the refinery also struggled to resume supply.

By Curacao Chronicle

January 8, 2019:

CALGARY — Husky Energy Inc. says it is looking at getting out of retailing fuels to consumers after 80 years in the business.  The Calgary-based oilsands producer says it is launching a strategic review that could result in it selling its Canadian retail and commercial fuels business and its small Prince George, B.C., refinery.  It says it prefers to focus on its integrated corridor of upstream and downstream assets in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the U.S. Midwest as well as offshore businesses in Atlantic Canada and the Asia Pacific region, adding the decision is not related to its offer that expires next week to buy oilsands rival MEG Energy Corp.  Husky has more than 500 service stations, travel centres, cardlock operations and bulk distribution facilities from British Columbia to New Brunswick. Its myHusky Rewards loyalty program has about 1.6 million members.  The 12,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Prince George processes light oil into gasoline, diesel and other products for nearby regions of B.C. It owns two refineries and is half-owner of a third in the United States.   CIBC analyst Jon Morrison said Tuesday that the expected value of these assets is about $835 million.  “We believe the retail network naturally has a couple strategic buyers that should be interested, while the refinery has a smaller list of potential purchasers given the scale, size and location of the facility,” he said in an email.  Spokesman Mel Duvall says Husky started selling fuel to consumers in 1938 shortly after the original owner built a small refinery in Cody, Wyo. The refinery was moved to Lloydminster on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border in 1946.  CEO Rob Peabody says in a news release the businesses are “highly marketable” and will attract strong interest and valuations.  TD Securities Inc. is acting as financial adviser, with Torys LLP as legal adviser.

By Financial Post

January 3, 2019:

EDMONTON — Alberta Environment says a 12-hour refinery flare that left a black plume visible for kilometres over Edmonton’s eastern skyline didn’t create a public health hazard. Spokesman Jamie Hanlon says monitoring equipment registered no changes in air quality as the flare stack from Imperial Oil’s Strathcona refinery shot flame and smoke into the atmosphere last Friday. Imperial spokesman Jon Harding says flaring began shortly before noon and lasted until almost midnight. He says the problem was caused by a compressor and a steam generator malfunctioning at the same time. Air-monitoring stations in nearby Sherwood Park and east Edmonton registered no unusual changes in eight different emissions, including hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide. All air-quality parameters remained below Alberta’s guidelines. The flare caused major traffic on social media as well as on roads near the refinery as people pulled over to take pictures.

By edmontonjournal.com

January 3, 2019:

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have finalised the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Gwadar deep seaport city, officials said on Thursday.  Pakistan is expecting to sign a number of investment deals, including the construction of mega oil refinery, in the month of February in the presence of a high-level Saudi delegation, confirmed Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.  “The oil refinery project is the biggest investment project of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan,” he added.  Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have lately expressed renewed interest in enhancing bilateral strategic and trade engagements while KSA also pledged $3 billion in a financial assistant to help Pakistan out of its economic woes. “A 15-member delegation of Saudi Arabia visited Gwadar from Karachi as part of the finalization process of the MoU for Aramco oil refinery,” said Minister of State and Board of Investment Chairman Haroon Sharif in an interview with a foreign publication. 

“We have finalized the MoU for the construction of Aramco oil refinery,” Sharif said, adding that “overall directions have been agreed upon and the agreement will be signed at an ‘appropriate time’.”  Pakistani authorities expect $15 billion investment from Saudi Arabia after Prime Minister Imran Khan chose KSA for his maiden visit and consequently made two official visits.  Earlier, the BoI chief had said, “We are going to sign MoUs with Saudi Aramco and Acwa Power within few weeks. Saudi Aramco is going to set up oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Pakistan while Acwa Power will invest in Pakistan renewable energy sector.”  As part of the investment plan, the Saudi Aramco will construct petrochemical complex housing multi-billion-dollar oil refinery.  “I am expecting around $15 billion investment from Saudi Arabia in the next 3 years. The inflow of investment for oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Pakistan is estimated to be between $6 billion to $10 billion,” the BoI chairman stated.  Pakistan hopes to attract more than $40 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the next five years. “We estimate that roughly around $40 billion investment will be made by these three countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China) in the next three to five years,” Sharif had said during his recent interview.  During the recent visit of the Saudi delegation to Gwadar, Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Khan Jamaldini on Wednesday gave a briefing about the current developments including the port, progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gwadar Master Plan.

By profit.pakistantoday.com.pk