Irving Oil confirmed that a ‘major incident’ took place at Canada’s largest refinery, after an explosion was reported at the facility. The refinery’s workers have all been accounted for, and the site of the incident is now isolated and contained. The company has started planning to have its turnaround team back on site.
As of 1 January 2018, US operable atmospheric crude distillation capacity totaled 18.6 million b/cd, a slight decrease of 0.1% since the beginning of 2017, according to EIA. Annual operable crude oil distillation unit capacity had increased slightly in each of the five years before 2018.
HFO for sea-going vessels does not comply with European rules for chemicals, while there is insufficient report of what the fuel contains. Users, emergency services workers, competent authorities and terminals therefore do not have a reliable picture of the risks, according to investigations by ILT.
With the IMO regulations coming in 2020 about the sulphur cap, US refiners are preparing for the shift in the ship fuel supply. That change will increase demand for low sulphur fuels, and US refiners are ready to capture about 3m bbl/day global marine fuel market. Namely, across many US refiner’s earnings, distillate yields will be increased.
The coming decades seem to hide significant carbon transition risks for global oil refiners, as a tightening regulatory environment and technological changes impact demand, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Oil consumption is responsible for more than 30% of carbon emissions globally, making oil refineries and the consumption of refined products key targets for carbon reduction policies.
