December 24, 2012:

TEHRAN (FNA)- The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) intends to set up a joint venture with an Iranian consortium comprising seven academic and engineering centers in a bid to meet technical expertise needed for building Pars Refinery.  NIORDC's director for research and technology Ezzatollah Jodaki made the announcement, and added that indigenization of technical expertise of building oil refineries is on the top agenda of the company. To this end the company plans to sign a contract with an academic and engineering consortium to meet technical expertise for seven refining units of Pars oil refinery which is going to be build in Fars province, Jodaki said. He went on to say that under the contract, which is going to be signed February 2013, academic centers will be responsible for providing scientific knowledge including catalysts while engineering companies will deploy their valuable experiences in implementation of the project.

According to NIORDC's official, 10 credible engineering companies are engaged in refining projects in the country of which several companies will be chosen for signing the contract. With regard to having access to huge reserves of gas condensate at South Pars gas field, south of Iran, the refinery will use gas condensate as feedstock instead of crude oil, an issue that requires some changes in the catalysts and the refinery units, the official noted. "It is expected the country no longer be dependent on either foreign companies' technical expertise or their presence in the country," he added. 120 thousand barrels gas condensate Pars Refinery will produce 12 million liters of gasoline per day. The refinery will receive its intake from Assalouyeh, onshore installation of South Pars gas field, through an under construction 430 kilometers length pipeline. Par refinery will produce oil products compatible with Eupr-5 specifications and sulfur content of its gasoline will be less than 10 ppm.

By FARS News Agency

December 24, 2012:

Nigerian firm, Badagry Petroleum Refinery Limited, and a Singaporean firm, Eton Finance Private Limited, on Friday, signed a joint venture financing agreement that will boost the nation’s local crude oil refining capacity by 100,000 barrels per day. The joint venture agreement will enable Badagry Petroleum construct and operate a 100,000bpd Greenfield refinery to be located in the Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State.  The Executive Chairman, Badagry Petroleum Refinery Limited, Alhaji Rasaki Awayewaserere, signed the agreement in Abuja on behalf of the Nigerian firm, while Mr. Allan Rennie, a director with Eton Finance Private Limited and Managing Director of Niger-Delta Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited, signed on behalf of the foreign firm.  Rennie said the financing by the Eton Group to Badagry Petroleum Refinery Limited would be a total of $1.95bn (N304.2bn) in form of joint venture funding with both companies working together to realise the goals of the project. The project received Approval in Principle in 1993 but had been delayed by several hiccups. However, Rennie said complete financing and administrative formalities would be completed in the next two to four months while fabrication and construction was expected to begin by the middle of 2013.

Following the formal approvals, the construction period including inauguration is planned to take up to between 24 and 30 months. The refinery, which is designated as export oriented is strategically located to target the increasing demand for petroleum products within Lagos State and the environs as well as the African export market. According to Rennie, the project will produce up to 1,000 direct jobs with another 8,000 to 10,000 jobs created externally in support functions. Housing, amenities and infrastructure would be provided for the workers, he said.  He added that the 100,000 bpd refinery would be a modern, state of the art refinery with the ability to process imported crude oil and crude oil blends from Nigeria. It has a design capability to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas, petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, heavy fuel oil, lubricating oil, grease and bitumen.  Eton Group is headed by Eton Finance Private Limited of Singapore, a private finance company that specialises in financing large infrastructural and commercial projects and commercial projects for governments and structured funding variants for highways, railways, ports, power, projects, oil and gas projects.

By Punchng.com

December 24, 2012:

Police reopened the eastbound service road of Highway 40 Sunday night after firefighters brought under control a blaze that tore through an oil reservoir of the Suncor refinery in the east end of Montreal. The fire first occurred at around 9 a.m. and a small spill of flammable liquid near the highway at Marien Ave. was observied at around 10:15 a.m. Suncor firefighters struggled to control the fire, and called for reinforcements from the Montreal Fire Department. The fire flared up again around 2:45 p.m., but firefighters were able to put it out later in the afternoon, said Francis Leduc of the Montreal Fire Department.

Montreal police said the service road to the highway was reopened at around 9 p.m. Authorities said that the environmental impact of the fire was “minimal.”

By The Gazette

December 22, 2012:

AMID concerns that the Federal Government may renege on its promise of building Greenfield refineries in Lagos, Kogi and Bayelsa states, the Badagary Petroleum Refinery Ltd has signed a Joint Venture Financing agreement with Niger-Delta Refinery and Petrochemicals Company to finance, construct and operate a Greenfield complex refinery at Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State. Executive Chairman of the Badagary Petroleum Refinery Limited, Alhaji Rasaki Adisa Awayewaserere, signed on behalf his company, while  Director, Eton Finance Private Ltd and Managing Director, Niger-Delta Refinery and Petrochemicals Company limited, Mr. Allan Rennie, signed for Eton Group. Eton Group would provide $1.95 billion (N304.2billion) in form of Joint Venture Funding with both companies working together to realize the goals of the 100,000 barrel-per-day refinery project. Speaking in Abuja, at the   weekend, Rennie said the project, which has been awaiting funding since 1993, would complete financial and administrative formalities within the next four months in order to move to re-engineering and approvals for the fabrication and construction phase before the end of 2013.

“We are committed to this and we are happy that a project, which has been waiting for financing for so long has now gotten an opportunity to move forward”. He noted that Eton Group had invested about $16 billion in 2012 on project financing in Nigeria, especially in the downstream oil industry. He explained that, following formal approvals, the construction (including commissioning) period for the Greenfield refinery is expected to take between 24-30 months. Rennie noted that the refinery, designated as export-oriented, is strategically located to target the ever increasing demand for petroleum products within Lagos State and its environ as well as the African export market. He observed that about 1000 direct jobs would be created, while another 10,000 would be created externally in support functions. According to him, the modern refinery, which would process crude oil and its blends from Nigeria, has a design capability to produce LPG, Petrol, Kerosene, and Diesel, Heavy fuel oil, lubricating oils, greases and bitumen for both local and international markets.

By The Guardian

December 22, 2012:

Spot gasoline in Los Angeles advanced for the fourth straight day as trading began for January delivery and on speculation that refiners are buying fuel before shutting units for maintenance next month. BP Plc (BP/), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Tesoro Corp. (TSO) plan to shut production units at their Southern California refineries next month for planned maintenance turnarounds, according to people familiar with the work schedules. The plants together make about a third of California’s refining capacity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, supplies rose for the third straight week in the seven days ended Dec. 14, gaining 273,000 barrels to 6.54 million, the state Energy Commission said. Output of the fuel, meanwhile, dropped 9.1 percent to 6.19 million barrels, the lowest level since Nov. 2, the agency said.

Carbob in Los Angeles jumped 9.5 cents to a premium of 1 cent a gallon against gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The contract, which rolled into January today, is being traded against February Nymex gasoline futures, which settled 1.9 cents below January futures. Carbob in San Francisco, which also rolled into January, narrowed its discount to futures by 16 cents to 1 cent a gallon. The premium for California-grade, or CARB, diesel in Los Angeles widened 0.25 cent to 2 cents a gallon versus Nymex heating oil futures. The fuel in San Francisco widened its discount by 3.25 cents to 5.25 cents a gallon. In Portland, Oregon, conventional 84 sub-octane gasoline to be blended with ethanol strengthened by 3.5 cents to a 6.5-cent discount to gasoline futures. Low-sulfur diesel in Portland’s strengthened 1.5 cents to 1.5 cents a gallon above heating oil futures.

By Bloomberg