December 21, 2012:

Santo Domingo.- The Fuel Truckers Union denounced Friday that the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) has been slow to dispatch  fuels during several days. Union spokesman Cristopher Castillo said for more than four days, when they go to buy fuel, the refinery sells less than requested, arguing that there is a shortage of oil. The truckers said the measure is a severe blow because they can’t sell the normal amounts and could lead to fuel shortages nationwide.

By Dominican Today

December 21, 2012:

LINDEN — The Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden donated $75,000 to officials at City Hall yesterday. Carol Ziegler, Bayway Public Affairs Manager, and Mary Phillips, Bayway Community Relations Coordinator, met with Mayor Richard Gerbounka, Police Chief Sal Bivona, and Fire Chief Joe Rizzo, and presented them with checks for $25,000 each. The Mayor accepted $25,000 on behalf of the Linden Interfaith Network for Community Service, Inc. (L.I.N.C.S.) food pantry Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. “Phillips 66 Values of Safety. Honor. Commitment. were put into action during and after the super storm that affected our neighbors in the community,” said Carol Ziegler. “Bayway Refinery is proud to assist with these donations made possible through Phillips 66 Disaster Relief Fund.” Gerbounka added, “I am extremely appreciative of Phillips 66 generosity and this goes to show what a good corporate neighbor they are in the city of Linden.”

By NJtoday.net

December 21, 2012:

The first oil tanker carrying Bakken crude to Irving Oil Corp.’s refinery in Canada from Albany, New York, ran aground in the Hudson River, delaying the first of what is expected to be many voyages on the route. No oil spilled from the Stena Primorsk, which was loaded with about 11.7 million gallons (279,000 barrels) of crude, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Erik Swanson, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, updating an earlier estimate of 6 million gallons. The accident occurred about 10 miles south of Albany at about 7 a.m., Swanson said. U.S. crude output rose last week to the highest level since January 1994, Energy Department data show. The gains have been primarily light, low sulfur crude from Bakken and Eagle Ford shale formations in North Dakota and southern Texas. Refiners including Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) and Irving are seeking to use less-expensive U.S. crude in eastern Canadian plants rather than more expensive cargoes from across the Atlantic Ocean. “Exports to Canada will probably pick up quite a bit in the next year,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil market analyst for Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. “The repercussions will have more to do with how much the U.S. continues to displace West Africa. That’s the one that really competes with Brent.” Bakken oil in Clearbrook, Minnesota, was about $23 a barrel less expensive today than North Sea Brent crude, the benchmark for overseas imports, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Oil Glut

A glut of oil in the upper Midwest, where North Dakota output has jumped 57 percent in the past year, has led producers to ship oil out of the region to the East and West Coasts by train. Rail shipments in the third quarter have jumped almost fourfold from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads. The double-hulled vessel hit rocks after it left the shipping channel when a mechanical failure knocked out its steering, said Richard Hendrick, general manager of the Port of Albany. A tugboat and barge could be on site by 10 p.m. to begin lightering oil from the 600-foot (183-meter) tanker if the plan is approved by the Coast Guard, Hendrick said. “We’re going to make sure their hull is safe and secure before we allow something like that,” Swanson said. He said the hull assessment could take hours, and it could be hours or days before the tanker can depart.

Vessel Destination

The vessel was en route to Irving’s St. John refinery in New Brunswick, Canada, Hendrick said. The ship was expected to return to Albany every eight days, which would make the crude shipment rate about 35,000 barrels a day. “This is the first of a long string of planned shipments from the Port of Albany to Irving,” Hendrick said. Valero has received approval from the Commerce Department to ship crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to its Quebec City refinery, Bill Day, a company spokesman in San Antonio, said in an e-mail. At 131 feet across, the Stena Primorsk is somewhat wider than other Hudson River-going vessels, said Ian Corcoran, vice president of the Hudson River Pilots Association. “I haven’t spoken to the pilot yet, but if the ship loses the ability to steer, the width doesn’t really matter,” Corcoran said. He called it an unfortunate coincidence that the first tanker shipload of Bakken from Albany ran aground. Buckeye Partners LP (BPL) said in October it reached a multi-year agreement with Irving to provide crude services at its Albany terminal. Buckeye has 1.8 million barrels of storage there, and is making modifications to increase its rail capacity to 135,000 barrels a day.

Hendrick said Buckeye and another terminal run by Global Partners LP (GLP) receive more than one unit train a day of crude from North Dakota at the port. Spokesmen from Irving and Buckeye didn’t respond to an e- mailed request for comment.

By Bloomberg

December 20, 2012:

WOODS CROSS — Holly Refinery and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to settle an alleged clean air violations case stemming from the refinery's underground storage of propane. In the settlement announced Thursday, Dallas-based Holly Refining and Marketing Co. does not concede any violations of the Clean Air Act but will pay a civil penalty of $115,000. An EPA inspection of the Woods Cross refinery in 2011 revealed issues with the refinery's "frozen earth storage unit" that stored propane. Mike Astin, Holly's environmental manager at the Woods Cross refinery, said the EPA inspectors noticed a gooseneck of vents designed to collect and release small leaks of the stored propane. "They went and detected that there were some vapors coming out of the vents, which is what they are designed to do," Astin said. "They claimed that was evidence of insufficient mechanical integrity." Astin also said that the EPA considers propane a hazardous material because it can ignite. The company was in the process of decommissioning the storage facility of propane because new technology was available, he said. "We had completed our decommissioning process when they came out and ordered it closed," he said.

The EPA said the penalty was assessed under a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires risk management plans for the processing, use or storage of flammable substances and toxic chemicals. "We contend that we are in substantial compliance with all the requirements of the act," Astin said. The refinery also has completed its outreach to Woods Cross area residents and passersby who may been impacted by the release of 212 barrels of fuel oil after the lid on an an above-ground storage tank rupture. In the Aug. 30 incident, about a mile-long area up to 50 feet wide was coated with the thick, black liquid after vapors possibly had created enough pressure to fracture the lid, Astin said. While the lid did "exactly what it was designed to do" in the event of the accumulation of that type of pressure, Astin said, the refinery has implemented new procedures in the wake of the incident. "We identified everything we think may have happened to cause it, and hit all of them," he said. He also said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration completed its review of the incident and did not recommend any action.

By Deseret News

December 20, 2012:

WOODS CROSS, Utah (AP) - Federal officials say Holly Refining and Marketing Co. has agreed to pay a $115,000 fine for U.S. Clean Air Act violations at the company's Davis County refinery. The Environmental Protection Agency says an inspection last year found problems with the refinery's use of hazardous chemicals and maintenance of a propane storage unit. The Dallas-based company was cited for violations of risk-management procedures at the Woods Cross refinery. The EPA announced the settlement Thursday. A call to the refinery Thursday was met by a recording saying a phone system couldn't accept any more messages. Woods Cross is about 7 miles north of Salt Lake City.

By Abc4.com