Processing news briefs, July 12

ExxonMobil Corp. said it welcomed commitments to phase out leaded gasoline in sub-Saharan Africa. It said participants representing 25 sub-Saharan African countries last week committed to accelerate programs to phase out leaded gasoline, with a target date for full phase-out of 2005.

Premcor Inc., St. Louis, Mo., said July 6 it planned to shut down the crude unit at its 250,000 b/d Port Arthur, Tex., refinery for 10 days to clean heaters that were fouled during a recent lightning strike and perform other maintenance procedures.

Nuevo Energy Co., Houston, said it filed a Form 8-K with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to revise its web site guidance to allow for the inclusion of production downtime associated with a recent failure of a carbon dioxide treatment vessel at the Rincon Oil Separation Facility in Ventura County, Calif. There were no injuries associated with this event, and the cause is under investigation.