October 23, 2020:

Climate activists have blocked the gates of the Ineos oil refinery at Grangemouth with boats in a protest against pollution. Extinction Rebellion Scotland claims Ineos is Scotland’s biggest climate polluter. And the group is staging the blockade as part of a programme of action. Small groups of no more than six people have locked themselves together at the gates. They aim to remain there all day on 23 October. Two boats are being used to block the entrances to the refinery and the headquarters. Activists plan to remain at the scene all day (Extinction Rebellion Scotland/PA)

“We are running out of time” Annie Lane, 26, a campaigner from Glasgow, said:

Ineos Grangemouth is Scotland’s largest climate polluter. It is Scotland’s only crude oil refinery. It also stores fracked gas from the States. Given the widely assumed ‘ban’ on fracking in Scotland, for fracked gas which harms communities worldwide to still be processed here is outrageously hypocritical. We are here to expose the climate destruction that Ineos is causing. We are running out of time, with the climate crisis affecting so many in the global south already. Campaigners held up banners stating “No Future in Fossil Fuels” and “Climate Justice = Social Justice”.

“Greenwash”

Extinction Rebellion Scotland said it’s taking coronavirus (Covid-19) safety precautions during the protests. These include face masks, social distancing and use of hand sanitiser, while participating activists are using a track and trace app. A demonstration is also due to take place outside the Ineos headquarters in London on the morning of 23 October. Meg Peyton Jones, from Edinburgh, said We’re 10 years on from Scotland’s first Climate Act, and yet plants such as Grangemouth are still being expanded. We cannot trust big oil corporations to prioritise the planet and the long-term wellbeing of either their workers or the general population above squeezing every last drop of oil and gas out of the North Sea, no matter how much they try to distract us with greenwash about renewables. Police said they’re aware of the situation. Ineos has been asked for comment.

By www.thecanary.co

October 22, 2020:

When the coronavirus arrived, the Chinese-owned Junda oil refinery in Kara-Balta ground to a halt. And that provokes mixed feelings in this northern Kyrgyzstan town. For those who grumbled at the damage the plant is believed to have wrought on people’s health and on crops, not to speak of the stinking sulphureous fumes, the pause has come as a welcome reprieve. But when any company comes along to a place like Kara-Balta, a town of 40,000 people a one-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital, Bishkek, it is often a reason for cheer. “So many people worked here. Translators made around 50-60,000 som ($630-760),” said Chynar Maatkulova, the owner of a little grocery store on a road leading to the refinery. “We had whole busloads of employees coming here, and they would buy tea and coffee.” Before the working day began, employees shopped for other small items like cigarettes and snacks, Maatkulova said. As for the moaners, the shopkeeper has little time for them.   “People who said the plant was supposedly dangerous, they’re just loafers who sit around drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes,” she said. “If there are 500 people working there, that’s 500 families who get food on their tables.”  In actual fact, when operating, the plant employed around 775 people. Of those, 500 were indeed Kyrgyz nationals, while the rest came from China. The company that owns the refinery – full name: China Petrol Company Junda Limited – has invested around $300 million into the plant.  Kyrgyzstan has five oil refineries, but Junda is by far the largest and processes around 800,000 tons of oil annually. The second largest such plant, the Tokmok oil refinery, also owned by a Chinese company, is able to manage only 450,000 tons.   Junda is no stranger to scandal. In 2016, for example, the company was fined for unlawfully pumping hydrocarbon gas into the atmosphere. Two years later, it was the taxman who had a complaint, claiming that the company was short on its payments by 200 million som ($2.9 million). In 2019, the state anti-monopoly agency accused Junda of using its dominant role on the local market to unwarrantedly hike prices for its liquified gas.

For reasons like these, Aidar Baigaziyev, a 75-year-old cattle rancher whose home stands right next to Junda, is perfectly content that the refinery has been lying idle since March. Combustible fuel flows through massive pipes and distillation columns hum to the noise of oil being processed only 200 meters from his kitchen. “When the plant was being built, they bought plots from my neighbors. They sold their five sotkas of land (500 square meters) at a good profit for $100,000,” said Baigaziyev, a tiny and lonely figure next to the hulking factory. “They wanted to buy my entire hectare (10,000 square meters) and a barn for the same price. I wanted $200,000, but they refused.” Still, Baigaziyev is philosophical about his lot and takes the view that “as long as they leave me alone, I won’t bother them.” There are local farmers who take a less sanguine position, insisting that their crops have suffered as a result of the pollution. Junda, by contrast, has previously insisted that the oil refining has no discernible impact on the soil. The authorities have long been aware of these complaints and have repeatedly carried out inspections, although never to the satisfaction of local residents.  In addition to the whiff of hydrogen sulfides, which carry with them a trademark odor of rotting eggs, residents are also bothered by the smell coming from the sewers. The water used in the refining process is discharged into the town’s sewer system. But when a member of parliament, Kozhobek Ryspayev, organized a technical audit in 2018, he found that the ratio of oil products in the refinery’s waste water had reached about 5 percent, above the permitted 3 percent level. Ryspayev’s reaction was a little surprising though. “The Junda plant has to be allowed to work. Enterprises and investors should be supported. You cannot torment investors who have built facilities with their own money,” he was reported as saying by RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz service, Radio Azattyk. That same year, Junda came under fire again for damaging ancient burial mounts said to possibly date back as far as the seventh century BCE. The State Ecological and Technical Inspectorate repeatedly asked the company to fence off the grounds where the mounds lie, but the request has not yet been heeded. Junda has seen some labor disputes too. In 2018, workers complained that they were not being paid health hazard premiums. One employee, a mechanic called Iskender Mamyrkulov, uploaded a video message appealing to the president for help. After that, he was fired.

By EURASIANET

October 22, 2020:

The price of gasoline, furnace oil and propane in Newfoundland and Labrador may go up if the Public Utilities Board (PUB) agrees to a request from Northen Atlantic Marketing Limited (NARL-Marketing). NARL-Marketing is the distribution company for fuels produced at the refinery in Come By Chance. In an Oct. 5 letter to the PUB, the company said their costs have risen as a result of the shutdown of the refinery. The refinery, owned by American investment company SilverPeak Financial, has been importing refined products from New York and Europe for the past six months. The refinery went idle in March when fuel markets took a hit due to COVID as travel restrictions led to decreased demand for jet fuel and gasoline. When it was operating, the refinery absorbed the costs of terminal operation and fuel storage. NARL-Marketing did not need to store fuel since it purchased from the refinery daily. “With the refinery shut, NARL-Marketing needs to maintain inventory to support supply to the island,” the company told the PUB. And that means extra costs for the company, costs that include shipping from New York Harbour and the use of third-party terminals or the Come By Chance terminal for storage. “The current wholesale mark-ups established by the PUB are based on an operating refinery in the market,” NARL-Marketing stated in the letter. “Therefore we urgently request that the Board review the markup to establish prices for gasoline, diesel and furnace oil that reflect the current situation, which is a 100 percent import market.” NARL-Marketing also asked the PUB to ensure a level playing field for all fuel suppliers on the island by implementing price increases at the terminals. The company said this will ensure the viability of terminals and a long-term, reliable supply of fuel for the province. “This uniform pricing structure will ensure that multiple suppliers can operate economically on the island of Newfoundland.” A spokesperson for the PUB said the board is reviewing the application, but could not say when they would make a decision.

By journalpioneer.com

October 22, 2020:

The price of gasoline, furnace oil and propane in Newfoundland and Labrador may go up if the Public Utilities Board (PUB) agrees to a request from Northen Atlantic Marketing Limited (NARL-Marketing). NARL-Marketing is the distribution company for fuels produced at the refinery in Come By Chance. In an Oct. 5 letter to the PUB, the company said their costs have risen as a result of the shutdown of the refinery. The refinery, owned by American investment company SilverPeak Financial, has been importing refined products from New York and Europe for the past six months. The refinery went idle in March when fuel markets took a hit due to COVID as travel restrictions led to decreased demand for jet fuel and gasoline. When it was operating, the refinery absorbed the costs of terminal operation and fuel storage. NARL-Marketing did not need to store fuel since it purchased from the refinery daily. “With the refinery shut, NARL-Marketing needs to maintain inventory to support supply to the island,” the company told the PUB. And that means extra costs for the company, costs that include shipping from New York Harbour and the use of third-party terminals or the Come By Chance terminal for storage. “The current wholesale mark-ups established by the PUB are based on an operating refinery in the market,” NARL-Marketing stated in the letter. “Therefore we urgently request that the Board review the markup to establish prices for gasoline, diesel and furnace oil that reflect the current situation, which is a 100 percent import market.”

NARL-Marketing also asked the PUB to ensure a level playing field for all fuel suppliers on the island by implementing price increases at the terminals. The company said this will ensure the viability of terminals and a long-term, reliable supply of fuel for the province. “This uniform pricing structure will ensure that multiple suppliers can operate economically on the island of Newfoundland.” A spokesperson for the PUB said the board is reviewing the application, but could not say when they would make a decision.

By www.thechronicleherald.ca

October 22, 2020:

Shares in Saras soared after global commodity trader Trafigura said it bought a stake of 3% in the Italian refiner, fuelling talk its main shareholder was looking for a partner. Saras, more than 40% controlled by the Moratti family, has lost more than 65% of its market value since the start of the year, as the coronavirus pandemic undermined demand and prompted the company to raise its inventories. “We look forward to engaging constructively with Saras as a supportive shareholder,” Trafigura said in an emailed comment to Reuters, confirming it had bought a stake. Saras shares jumped more than 10% after it emerged Trafigura held 3.01% of the refiner. “The Morattis realise it’s a very complex business and this year and next will be difficult times, so they’re looking for a partner,” a source familiar with the matter said. The source said any closer cooperation with a group such as Trafigura would be very positive since it would generate significant synergies. Saras was not immediately available for a comment. The Italian company, currently worth around 429 million euros ($507 million), runs the 300,000 barel per day Sarroch refinery in south-western Sardinia. In the first half of the year it posted a loss of 41 million euros and recently said it planned to reduce its cost basis by roughly 120 million euros. ($1 = 0.8461 euros) (Reporting by Giancarlo Navach and Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Julia Payne in London; Editing by Alex Richardson)

By Reuters