Downstream

Phillips 66 has been certified to process oil made from waste plastics into feedstock at its Sweeny Refinery southwest of Houston in Brazoria County. The Houston-based company achieved an International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus for the facility in Old Ocean near the Texas coast. The global sustainability certification system covers all sustainable feedstocks,…

ExxonMobil has ramped up more polypropylene production at its petrochemicals complex in Baton Rouge, LA, increasing capacity to 450,000 metric tons/year. The integrated Louisiana complex produces transportation fuels and various products including polypropylene.  “With the startup of this new production unit, we are well positioned to responsibly meet the growing global demand for these high-performance…

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC and QatarEnergy on Wednesday sanctioned an $8.5 billion integrated polymers facility east of Houston that promises more than 500 full-time jobs and billions in revenue for the Golden Triangle hub. A 2 million metric ton/year (mmty) ethane cracker and two 1 mmty high-density polyethylene units are planned at the site…

Mexico’s state oil and gas giant Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) had a strange third quarter. Amid record commodity prices, the company posted a massive loss. But it also produced more hydrocarbons, in particular natural gas. In an earnings call last week, executives tried to put a positive spin on the results. They highlighted that Pemex liquids…

Houston-based Par Pacific Holdings Inc. is snapping up ExxonMobil’s 63,000 b/d Billings, MT, oil refinery and associated assets to expand and diversify its portfolio. The transaction also is to include hydrocarbons and inventory, which would be valued at closing.  Par’s total throughput capacity would increase to 218,000 b/d. More than $30 million in commercial and…

Two major petrochemical projects planned for Louisiana’s St. James Parish are facing permitting obstacles following recent decisions that may affect them moving forward. A court ruling has stalled FG LA LLC’s plan to build a massive $9.4 billion plastics facility. The affiliate of global conglomerate Formosa Group has had the Sunshine Project on the drawing…

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s campaign promise of a refinery for his home state of Tabasco is being delivered this week. The 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery in Dos Bocas will be inaugurated on Friday, July 1, exactly four years after López Obrador won the presidency. “With president López Obrador inaugurating his flagship Olmeca refinery,…

“I believe it is important for public and private sectors to not focus solely on increasing the participation of women in terms of labor, but rather there be a true revolution within the interior of institutions and companies to really reduce the gender gap,” María Luisa Licón, legal counsel at Marathon Petroleum Corp. and founding…

Mexico Energy Minister Rocío Nahle and Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza took the stage during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference on Tuesday to outline their plans for getting to energy self sufficiency and boosting natural gas output.  With a three-year plan focused heavily on the downstream, the two officials said…