October 8, 2020:

Calcasieu Refining notified the Louisiana Workforce Commission of plans to layoff 69 workers at its idled 135,500 barrel-per-day Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery according to a notice from the commission. The refinery was idled in early August, according to the Louisana Department on Environmental Quality, because of demand loss in the COVID-19 pandemic. A contract worker died from injuries sustained in a Sept. 17 fire at the refinery.

By Reuters

September 18, 2020:

A contractor died following a fire at Calcasieu Refining Thursday, state police confirm. The Lake Charles Fire Department was notified of a fire at Calcasieu Refining, on West Tank Farm Road, at 2:25 p.m. Thursday, according State Trooper Derek Senegal, spokesman for Louisiana State Police Troop D. State Police Emergency Services Technicians were dispatched to the scene. Senegal said a preliminary investigation found that cutting was taking place on a stack housing that was damaged by Hurricane Laura, causing oil to catch on fire. The contractor received burns on 60 to 80 percent of their body and fell approximately 15 feet when the fire caused their harness to fail. The victim was initially flown toward Lafayette General but was diverted to Lake Charles Memorial due to his rapidly deteriorating condition, Senegal said. The fire was contained, although the Lake Charles Fire Department remained on scene in case the fire reignited. KPLC has reached out to Calcasieu Refining and the contracting company for more information.

By KPLC News

September 17, 2020:

Petroleos Mexicanos expects a drastic drop in oil exports over the next three years as the company faces the twin challenges of declining output and supplying crude to a controversial new $8 billion refinery championed by the country’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Pemex, as the state oil company is also called, is forecasting a reduction of almost 70% in exports of its flagship heavy crude known as Maya between 2021 and 2023, according to two people familiar with the situation. It expects to cut Maya exports by almost half between next year and 2022 and lower them again between 2022 and 2023, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public.

A Pemex representative didn’t respond to a request for comment. AMLO swept into power in December 2018 promising to rescue Pemex by dialing back his predecessor’s 2013-2014 energy reforms, which had ended the company’s nearly eight decades-long monopoly. He has also pledged to ramp up domestic fuel production to reduce dependence on gasoline imports, which account for about 65% of what Pemex sells in Mexico. At the heart of this policy is a new refinery that will process Maya. Mexico’s six existing refineries blend Maya and a lighter domestic crude, Isthmus. The new plant being built in AMLO’s home state of Tabasco will have the capacity to process 340,000 barrels of oil a day. The timeline for finishing the Dos Bocas refinery by 2023 is viewed by some critics as overly ambitious. The six plants currently operating do so at just one-third of their capacity and post additional losses when they produce more gasoline.

“The key issue here is whether Dos Bocas is going to be operating in three years,” said Ixchel Castro, oil and refining markets manager for Latin America at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “The construction process is probably going to take longer than originally estimated, so exports will be maintained for a longer period than expected.” Pemex restarted exports of Isthmus crude in December after not doing so for a year and a half. But exports of heavier grades have fallen as Pemex struggles to reverse 15 consecutive years of output declines. In July, the company exported 888,000 barrels a day of heavy crudes including Maya, Altamira and Talam, a 23% drop from a year earlier. Maya represented almost 80% of Pemex’s crude shipments in August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earlier this week, a congressman from Mexico’s ruling Morena party proposed to return to some of the old wording of the constitution, before it was changed to boost private participation in oil drilling under Mexico’s energy reform. The bill comes after AMLO said in an August memorandum that Mexico may need to change the rules governing the country’s energy industry and reverse the opening to private companies to save Pemex.

By Bloomberg

September 17, 2020:

The Trump Administration is considering the possibility of at least $300 million in cash aid for U.S. oil refiners, who’ve been denied exemptions under the Renewable Fuels Standard. Two sources told Reuters that while the administration hasn’t yet ruled on 2019 waiver requests, officials have estimated the amount of money it would provide in aid based on the number of facilities that applied for the exemptions but might now be ineligible because of a recent court ruling. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has the final say on RFS waivers, didn’t immediately comment on the announcement. Several sources say that financial relief could come from funds within the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation but didn’t know exactly when the aid would be distributed. A spokesman for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers’ Association says the industry doesn’t support the idea of aid. “If the administration truly wants to make things right with refiners, they need to prioritize making the RFS less expensive so it’s not a threat to good manufacturing jobs,” the spokesman adds The administration had recently quadrupled exemptions for refiners, angering biofuel producers and farmers who say the waivers dent demand for their products.

By NAFB News Service

September 17, 2020:

Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L on Thursday said its Mobile, Alabama, chemical plant and oil refinery had minimal operational impact from Hurricane Sally and is running normally. Crude oil rates were reduced temporarily at the facility in anticipation of the potential impact from Sally, the company had said on Wednesday.

By Reuters