December 20, 2012:

State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina’s oil refinery in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, caught fire on Thursday, The fire broke out at 11:30 a.m. local time, lasted for eight minutes and claimed no casualties. Pertamina Balikpapan spokesperson Pety said that the fire occurred at the oil catcher section that collects trench water and oil spillages from the refinery. The company said that the incident did not disturb operations at the refinery. The company has yet to reveal the cause of the fire. The Balikpapan refinery, which also caught fire in 2010, supplies fuel for East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. (han)

By The Jakarta Post

October 20, 2012:

(CHICAGO) (WLS) -- The release of gas and oil into the air from the Chicago-area Exxon Mobil Refinery caused a mess Friday that resulted in a major road closure near Channahon and a concern it is already affecting gas prices.  Arsenal Road remained closed Friday night between Baseline Road to I-55, which has also been seeing some traffic problems. "We were stuck for about an hour," said motorist Gina Papan. "Just crawling." Papan is one of many frustrated drivers Friday night. "There were no exits at all to get off," she said. "That's what I said to my daughter, if somebody was running on E, they were in trouble." "It's real slow out here on 55," said Carlos Bryant. "You're backed up about probably ten, twelve miles." It was around 9 a.m. Friday morning when Exxon Mobil says a buildup of pressure at this refinery in Channahon led to an airborne release of crude oil and other substances. "There's no health impact," Exxon Mobil spokesperson Tricia Simpson said. "We've had industrial hygienists out all day monitoring. Currently we have a team assessing the situation." The release was capped within a half hour, the company said, but caused slippery conditions on a two-and-a-half mile stretch of Arsenal Road, forcing its closure and impacting many truck drivers. "It is a big exit because all the rail yards and all the oil and chemical terminals are down there that load," said truck driver Chris Allen.

"They're not able to get around," said gas station employee Jessica Merryman. "They're stuck here for the weekend. A couple people have heard that they can't get in there until Monday." The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is still assessing any environmental impact, which Exxon Mobil says initially appears minimal. Refinery production has not been impacted, says the company, but there was a five cent bump in the price of gas blended in Chicago, in part because of a separate supply issue at the Whiting, Indiana BP plant. "We are so profoundly apologetic to people trying to get out of center point facility," Simpson said. "We extend our profound apologies." There have been no reports of serious illness or injury. Exxon Mobile is offering free car washes for vehicles that have been contaminated and is working with the local Army Reserve to set up a staging area for its clean up equipment. ExxonMobil has established a 24/7 toll-free number for inquiries about the incident. The number is 877-511-1012. 

By WLS-TV/DT

October, 20, 2012:

KARACHI: National Refinery – part of the refinery wing of the sole vertically integrated oil conglomerate of the country Attock Group – posted a profit of Rs802 million for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2012-13, down 3% compared to Rs828 million in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year. The company’s net sales, however, jumped 17.1% to Rs44 billion. Despite higher oil prices, gross margins remained stagnant at 4%, while gross profits rose to Rs1.6 billion, according to Topline Securities analyst Nauman Khan. The refinery’s healthy volumes, impact of increase in its fuel segment margins on the back of strong gross refinery margins and inventory gains supported profitability. However, the company was not able to sustain the healthy growth in sales as profitability was diluted by decrease in lubricant segment’s profitability. Subdued performance in the company’s lubricant business because of stretched margins dented overall refining margins. The lubricant segment faced adverse operating environment due to subdued international lube margins and suppressed demand for the derivative as well of asphalt locally. Analysts estimated lube profits to dive 60-65% to Rs400 million from Rs1.1 billion last year whereas fuel refinery, which registered a loss of Rs297 million previous year, was likely to post a profit of Rs400 million.

Other major factor which pulled down earnings was a 34% decline in other income to Rs313 million. Attock Refinery and National Refinery have been gaining market share in the industry, gaining the ground lost by their biggest competitor and market leader Pak Arab Refinery. National Refinery increased its market share from 18% to 21% while Attock Refinery’s share grew to from 18% to 19% in fiscal 2012.

By The Express Tribune

October 20, 2012:

San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. could be looking to exit the California refining business. The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that the company has retained Citigroup to sell its two California refineries, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal. Valero spokesman Bill Day said the company could not comment on whether it plans to sell its California refineries.  But he did say California's increasingly stringeenvironmental rules, lack of pipelines connecting it with the rest of the country and the resulting reliance on shipping make it a challenging place to operate.  “Operating expenses at California refineries are significantly higher than our other refineries, especially those along the Gulf Coast,” Day said. “It's something we have to look at.” In last year's third-quarter conference call with analysts, Valero Chairman, President and CEO Bill Klesse said, “We're looking at our options,” regarding the California refineries but didn't elaborate on what those options might be. California laws call for lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. “We think their policies turn their back on the negative economic impacts,” Klesse said. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said California's environmental rules remain caught up in litigation but that the state's low-carbon fuel standard has made the future more uncertain for refiners. “The question is, Will California refineries shut down because it will be too expensive for them to meet the California low-carbon fuel standard in the future?” Lipow asked. “That's probably what Valero is thinking: Perhaps it's a good time to exit given the new regulations.”

California's gas prices recently surged over $5 per gallon. California gas prices are particularly susceptible to power outages because the state is mostly cut off from the pipelines spanning the rest of the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. California also has its own gasoline blending requirements. Valero acquired its Benicia refinery near San Francisco from ExxonMobil in 2000. Products made there include propane, butane, gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil, residual oil and asphalt.  The company's Wilmington, Calif., plant near Los Angeles produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ultra-low-sulfur diesel, propane, coke and asphalt.

By Mysanantonio.com

October 20, 2012:

A new refinery in Saudi Arabia, that is a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and France's Total, is likely to start diesel exports from the second quarter of next year and is targeting the European market, industry sources said yesterday. Both companies have started testing the 400,000 barrels per day refinery at Jubail, and have indicated to potential buyers that diesel exports are likely to start by the second quarter next year, they said. Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Company has fired up the boilers at the plant, designed to reduce Saudi reliance on imports and meet rapidly rising fuel demand, sources have said. This indicates the refinery is expected to be fully operational ahead of an earlier schedule of December next year, traders said. Aramco and Total will jointly market the diesel, though volumes are not clear yet. "There's no clear picture yet, but marketing from both sides will own a share of volumes," the source added. The Jubail refinery will be the second in the Middle East to target the European market with regular diesel exports. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company plans to offer cleaner diesel fuel for export through its 2013 term contract, making it the first Gulf producer to export ultra-low sulphur diesel outside the region on a term basis

By TradeArabia News