Fuel for Thought: Chinese refiners look outward as domestic market saturated
The dramatic transformation that China's vast refining landscape has undergone in the last year is rewriting the market dynamics for oil trade flows in Asia.
Fort Calhoun becomes fifth U.S. nuclear plant to retire in past five years
(Mon, 31 Oct 2016) The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station, located near Omaha, Nebraska, shut down on Monday, October 24, after the Omaha Public Power District voted in June to retire the plant, citing economic reasons as the main cause. With a capacity of 478 megawatts (MW), Fort Calhoun was the smallest active nuclear power plant in the United States at the time of its retirement.
International Maritime Organization cuts the bottom out of the barrel
"More details to follow." Those were the first words on the IMO's Twitter page after it imposed a global 0.5% sulfur emission limit on the shipping industry from 2020.
Offshore oil production in deepwater and ultra deepwater is increasing
(Fri, 28 Oct 2016) Global offshore oil production (including lease condensate and hydrocarbon gas liquids) from deepwater projects reached 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. Deepwater production, or production in water of depths greater than 125 meters, has increased 25% from nearly 7 million b/d a decade ago.
A funny thing happened on the way to Corpus Christi
For all the problems and challenges this country has, others want to be here. Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine highlights the US' manufacturing appeal.
Germany votes against the internal combustion engine
Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundesrat, voted in October to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines by 2030.
Low tanker rates are enabling more long-distance crude oil and petroleum product trade
(Thu, 27 Oct 2016) Recent expansion of the global crude oil and petroleum product tanker fleet has resulted in falling or lower tanker rates for much of 2016 that have widened the geographic scope for economically attractive trade at a time when inventories of both crude oil and petroleum products are at high levels.
K Fair: A time to meet and greet for plastics and rubber
Billed as the world’s largest plastics and rubber show, K Fair is more than a trade show. It is a behemoth to rival any other.
India continues to baffle with rising steel output and lagging consumption
While Indian steelmakers are ramping up newly installed capacities and increasing output, Indian consumers remain stubbornly unmoved about consuming all that local steelmakers are making.
Wind generation share exceeded 10% in 11 states in 2015
(Wed, 26 Oct 2016) In 2015, 11 states generated at least 10% of their total electricity from wind. As recently as 2010, only three states had at least a 10% wind share. Iowa had the largest wind generation share, at 31.3%, and South Dakota (25.5%) and Kansas (23.9%) had wind generation shares higher than 20%. Two additional states, Texas and New Mexico, are on track to surpass a 10% wind generation share in 2016, based on data through July.