Motiva to integrate Norco, Convent refineries in Louisiana

Motiva to integrate Norco, Convent refineries in Louisiana

Mar 27th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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26 March 2015

(Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday that operations at its Convent and Norco, Louisiana, refineries will be integrated to take advantage of increased production of lower-cost U.S. shale oil.

Motiva, which is co-owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco, said the first step in the integration project is the construction of the Maurepas pipeline system that will bring advantaged crude to the Norco refinery and connect the production systems at the two plants.

After the three-pipeline system is in place, Motiva plans to idle the 92,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at the 235,000 bpd Convent refinery.

The company will also expand by 30,000 bpd the hydrocracking unit at the 238,000 bpd Norco refinery. The Norco hydrocracker currently can process 40,000 bpd of gas oil produced by crude distillation units.

Gas oil produced by the Convent refinery will go to the expanded hydrocracker and 112,000 bpd catalytic cracking unit at the Norco plant.

Diesel, the primary motor fuel produced by hydrocrackers, has become a lucrative export for U.S. Gulf Coast refiners.

“Through the implementation of these projects, we are creating a world-scale, integrated refining system that leverages the best aspects of our two Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco,” said Dan Romasko, president and chief executive of Motiva in a statement.

Valero Energy Corp has already undertaken a similar shift in production at its Louisiana refineries. Last year, Valoero idled the FCCU at its 125,000 bpd Meraux, Louisiana, refinery and expanded the hydrocracker. Valero now relies on its 205,000 bpd St. Charles refinery in Norco for gasoline production.

The combined plants would be smaller than Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery, the largest in the United States, which the company says has capacity of up to 620,000 bpd.

At the ground level, the Louisiana Refining System, as Motiva plans to call the interconnected plants, will look a lot like two separate refineries, said people familiar with company plans.

Salaried staff may be combined, but hourly employees, who are represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW), will continue to operate separately.

“It’s not really a merger,” said one of the sources. “Convent’s going to shut down its cat cracker and sell the gas oil that would have gone to it to Norco.”
The sources said Motiva plans to complete the integration by the end of 2017. Motiva did not comment on the timeline for the project.

(Reporting By Houston Newsroom; Editing by Ken Wills)

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Posted in: Motiva, Oil, Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Saudi Aramco, Shale Gas, Shale Oil, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Motiva Enterprises · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Why Shell Is Cutting Jobs In The North Sea

Why Shell Is Cutting Jobs In The North Sea

Mar 26th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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Here’s Why Royal Dutch Shell Is Cutting Jobs In The North Sea

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN: Published: Mar 26, 2015 at 1:13 pm EST

Royal Dutch Shell plc. (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) has announced to cut 250 jobs in the UK North Sea region. The move comes ahead of more than 50% decline in crude oil prices. As a result, life in the exploration and production companies has become difficult. The job cut announced by Shell comes just a week after the announcement of the treasury to offer tax cuts in order to stimulate growth in the industry.

The North Sea oil and gas sector holds great value to the state. The sector employs over 400,000 people and is estimated to have a worth around $7.47 billion. Despite the massive size of the sector, investment activity is slow. This is due to the high costs of production faced by the energy companies due to higher taxes and lower crude oil prices. Thus the tax cut by Britain was aimed at promoting investment in the sector.

As reported by the Financial Times, Shell has indicated that the decision was made in line with its cost cutting strategies. The move is also expected to improve the Den Haag based company’s competitive performance and operations around the world.

Royal Dutch Shell plc. (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) has announced to cut 250 jobs in the UK North Sea region. The move comes ahead of more than 50% decline in crude oil prices. As a result, life in the exploration and production companies has become difficult. The job cut announced by Shell comes just a week after the announcement of the treasury to offer tax cuts in order to stimulate growth in the industry.

The North Sea oil and gas sector holds great value to the state. The sector employs over 400,000 people and is estimated to have a worth around $7.47 billion. Despite the massive size of the sector, investment activity is slow. This is due to the high costs of production faced by the energy companies due to higher taxes and lower crude oil prices. Thus the tax cut by Britain was aimed at promoting investment in the sector.

As reported by the Financial Times, Shell has indicated that the decision was made in line with its cost cutting strategies. The move is also expected to improve the Den Haag based company’s competitive performance and operations around the world.

Shell has also indicated that it plans to move towards a more even time rota. This would mean that the company would try to adopt a three weeks on, three weeks off pattern compared to the traditional two weeks on, two to three weeks off. The Shell will forward the suggestion to the staff committee for further discussion.

Meanwhile, the trade unions are opposing the decision to change the shift patterns. Trade unions, Unite and GMB are calling on their members to strike against the change in shift patterns. As reported by Reuters, the regional organizer at Unite, John Taylor said that if the change in the shift policy is adopted, it would spread like cancer in the North Sea. This for this reason that the Union has opposed the decision.

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Posted in: Bidness Etc, Gas, Oil, Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell.
Tagged: Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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Shell led Corrib Gas Pipeline Project comes unstuck

Shell led Corrib Gas Pipeline Project comes unstuck

Mar 26th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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Article by Norma Costellopublished 23 March 2015 byvice.com under the headline:

A Massive Pipe Came Loose in an Atlantic Gas Field and Irish Environmentalists Are Not Happy

The Corib Gas pipeline project by the Western Irish fishing village of Rossport, County Mayo, has always been a source of controversy. It was established amid arrests and police batons, against the wishes of locals and environmental protesters. The project is supposed to start pumping gas this summer, and those activists remain convinced that extracting fossil fuels from an area famed for its natural beauty is a bad idea.

Just over a week ago, an 800 metre pipe that was supposed to be fixed to the sea-bed floated to the surface. Feeling that their fears may have been justified, local activists are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) looks into it. I contacted the EPA who had previously said they would be investigating the issue. When I asked whether members of the EPA would visit the site, I was told they “don’t consider it necessary at this time”.

I spoke to Phillip Robinson from Shell about the incident and asked him what was in the dislodged pipes. “Last Friday 800 metres of plastic ducting that brings treated waste water 12 kilometres out to the Atlantic rose to the surface – previously it was on the sea bed. The 20 inch diameter offshore gas pipeline, which is made of high strength steel, has not been impacted,” he said.

Despite Philip’s assertions that the pipe did not carry pollutants, locals in the area are angry that the EPA has not visited the site. Local fisherman Pat “the chief” O’Donnell says the Irish authorities are ignoring problems facing the gas project. “The pipes dislodge and where’s the EPA? Where are the Gardai for that matter, or the media? It’s clear they’re all just arms for the state and in this state, whatever Shell says is gospel,” he said.

Maura Harrington who has been involved in the Shell to Sea Campaign for 15 years says the EPA’s refusal to visit the site is “madness”.

“The EPA are supposed to be a scientific body, but how the hell can they know what’s going on if they don’t send someone to check out the situation? It’s absolute madness to ‘investigate’ without sending someone to the site that needs to be investigated,” she said.

The gas project is already mired in scandal. Private security companies hired by Shell were accused of intimidating locals and activists while footage of Gardai beating protesters caused outraged throughout the country. The controversy reached its zenith when one un-vetted private security company worker, Michael Dwyer, was murdered by Bolivian special forces, after allegedly being part of a planned presidential assassination with people he met while working at Rossport.

Pat O’Donnell, who went to prison for breach of the peace during protests against the project says the community is lucky Shell have not already started to transport raw gas inland. “We’re blessed they hadn’t started production or the whole fishing industry and my livelihood would be ruined. This is why I went to jail, so things like this wouldn’t happen,” he said.

Shell expect to go on stream this year and Ireland’s hugely unpopular Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny – who is from Mayo – is rumoured to be attending the opening of the Corrib pipe this summer. When I contacted the Taoiseach’s office to get confirmation of this I was told they cannot give details of the Taoiseach diary out in advance because of security risks. I suppose if you were one of Ireland’s most hated men you’d probably want to keep your calendar pretty private too.

Pat O’Donnell says if the project goes on steam this summer, Rossport will face an uncertain future. “When I was in jail, BP blew up off the Gulf of Mexico. That was my worst fear playing itself out in real life,” he said. “We’re dealing with raw gas here. When you have raw gas coming in, you have loads of heavy metals like mercury coming with it. Shell keep saying they use the best available technology but judging by last week – well you can make your own conclusions.”

Shell insists that the loose pipe has no impact on the gas pipeline, but the EPA’s decision not even to investigate the incident will do nothing to quell the fears of the locals.

@normcos

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Posted in: Corrib Gas Project, Corruption, Environment, Garda, Gas, Human Rights,Ireland, Rossport Five, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell Project Delays, Shell Project Overruns, Shell to Sea Campaign.
Tagged: Corrib Gas Project · Gas · Ireland · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Shell to cut more UK North Sea jobs in 2015

Shell to cut more UK North Sea jobs in 2015

Mar 26th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

No comments yet

Thursday 26 March 2015

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is planning further job cuts in its UK North Sea oil and gas business in 2015, the company said on Thursday, just a week after a package of tax cuts from the Treasury aimed at encouraging growth in the industry.

“Shell UK plans to reduce the number of staff and agency contractors who support the company’s UK North Sea operations by at least 250 in 2015,” Shell said in an emailed statement.

The reduction is in addition to 250 job losses announced in August, Shell said, and follows North Sea job cuts by BP (BP.L), Talisman Sinopec, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

Britain’s North Sea oil and gas sector employs over 400,000 people and is worth about 5 billion pounds ($7.47 billion) a year to the state. But investment activity has stalled due to a combination of high costs, high taxes and falling oil prices.

Last week, Britain announced a raft of oil tax cuts and an investment allowance with the aim of stimulating investment and production, heeding calls for help from battered North Sea oil and gas companies battling high costs and the price slump.

While these measures were broadly welcomed by the industry, some participants expressed reservations about whether they were sufficient to make a material difference without a rebound in the oil price.

Paul Goodfellow, upstream vice president for the UK and Ireland at Shell, said that while reforms to the fiscal regime were a “step in the right direction”, the industry needed to redouble its efforts to tackle costs and improve profitability if the North Sea was to continue to attract investment.

Shell also said that a decision had been made in principle to move to an “even time rota”. As a result, a three weeks on, three weeks off shift pattern – as opposed to the more traditional two weeks on, two or three weeks off – will be put forward for consultation with the staff committee.

Trade unions Unite and GMB are already balloting their members working offshore to gauge appetite for strike action over changes to shift patterns, which have already been introduced by some operators.

“We think this cancer will spread throughout the North Sea,” said John Taylor, regional industrial organiser at Unite. “We are totally opposed to the introduction of three on, three off.”

The ballot will close on March 27. “We expect an overwhelming majority in favour of strike action,” he said.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Claire Milhench; editing by Susan Thomas)

SOURCE

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Royal Dutch Shell to cut another 250 North Sea jobs and increase its staff working hours to ‘stay competitive’

Shell boss paid £20m for a year in which oil price slumped and group cut UK jobs

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Posted in: BP, Oil, Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell Job Cuts.
Tagged: BP · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell · Shell North Sea

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