Tesoro Corp. stopped running crude at its 93,700-b/cd Hawaii refinery on Apr. 30.

A failure to apply an inherently safer design, identify and evaluate damage mechanism hazards, and use effective safeguards led to an Aug. 6, 2012, pipe rupture and vapor release that ignited and shut down the No. 4 crude oil unit at Chevron USA Inc.’s Richmond, Calif., refinery, the US Chemical Safety Board said in a draft report.

Shell Australia is looking for a buyer for its only refinery in southeastern Australia, the Geelong refinery, as part of Shell’s global strategy to concentrate investments on large-scale sites, such as the company’s Pulau Bukom refinery in Singapore.

China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) said it has reached a cooperation framework agreement with Petroleum Oil & Gas Corp. of South Africa (PetroSA) “which enabled the companies to move forward the world-scale Mthombo crude oil refinery project in Port Elizabeth’s Coega Industrial Development Zone.”

Repsol has started up a 40,000-b/d delayed coker at the Petronor refinery at Muskiz near Bilbao, Spain, in a project that expands crude capacity to 240,000 b/d from 220,000 b/d.

US refiners would need to lower the sulfur content of gasoline to levels in place in Europe and elsewhere under a Mar. 29 proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at aligning federal regulations with those in effect in California.

BP-Husky Refining LLC has started up a new 42,000-b/d naphtha reformer at its 160,000-b/d Toledo Refinery in Oregon, Ohio (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2010).

The American Petroleum Institute is considering taking its legal challenge of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s introduction of gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend into the marketplace to the US Supreme Court, an API official said.

Hess Corp. will exit refining by closing its 70,000-b/d fluid catalytic cracking unit at Port Reading, NJ, as part of a strategy to concentrate on exploration and production.

A strong US energy future heavily depends on being able to refine reliable motor fuels, suggested Cindy Schild, refining senior manager at the American Petroleum Institute. Sound decisions on the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, the Renewable Fuels Standard, and refinery regulations could make a major positive difference, she maintained.

Tesoro Corp. will halt refining at its 93,700-b/cd Kapolei refinery in Hawaii after a year-long effort to sell the facility proved unsuccessful (OGJ Online, Jan. 11, 2012).

The nation’s largest motor club urged the US Environmental Protection Agency and the fuel ethanol industry to delay introduction of gasoline with 15% ethanol into the marketplace until the public better understands its potential to damage engines and void warranties.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its final rule increasing the biomass-based diesel minimum for 2013. EPA raised the amount to 1.28 billion gal from 1 billion gal on Sept. 14.

Two US East Coast refineries were closed or preparing to close because Hurricane Sandy was expected to make landfall near the New Jersey-Delaware border late Oct. 29, the US Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability reported.