Asia's trio of condensate splitter projects is expected to begin commerical operations in July. The two in South Korea, one in Singapore, will have a combined total of 4.1 mmpta of aromatics capacity, mainly Paraxlyene (PX). These will not impact...  +

The bunker industry is undergoing the most extensive change since the conversion from coal to liquid fuels as a result of the reduction in harmful emissions.  This is being driven by the growing awareness of the damage to the environment being cau...  +

European products demand in Q1 are running close to a year ago after adjusting for the impact of the very mild weather. Although preliminary data for products demand in main European countries so far this year are still showing y-on-y declines for...  +

Vietnam's Dung Quat refinery (140 kb/d) began an extended scheduled turnaround earlier this month. The turnaround is expected to last 45 days and will see the refinery shut until early July. Dung Quat is Vietnam’s sole refinery and is owned and o...  +

In Japan, the push to restart nuclear power has seemingly stalled, with a recent court ruling blocking the restart of two reactors operated by Kansai Electric. A District Court in Fukui Prefecture has barred the company from restarting the Oi pla...  +

Liquefied natural gas sellers may face more competitive markets in Japan and South Korea, which together bought more than half of the world’s supply in 2013, after China signed a mega gas deal with Russia.      Read Article  +

Myanmar businessman Lay has doubled the number of cars he owns to six in just three years, as reforms in Southeast Asia's poorest country unleash a wave of consumer spending.     Read Article  +

A 2010 ordinance enacted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) requiring Japanese refiners to raise their mandatory cracking-to-crude distillation capacity ratio has succeeded in slashing the country’s refining capacity, but f...  +

China is shaking up its largest energy company by breaking apart its monopoly on natural-gas pipelines, which for years has discouraged the independent development of promising new supplies of the cleaner-burning fuel.     Read Article  +

European jet demand has lost around 100 kb/d or 10% since 2008 and is effectively at the same level as of 2004-05; i.e. over the last decade, European jet fuel demand did not grow. This comes despite a relatively healthy flight environment. Argua...  +