Activists Blockade Shell Refinery in Port of Rotterdam
Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…
Flurry of Vessels Booked After Dutch Refinery Outage
At least 10 tankers booked from Mideast to Europe; freight rate for clean tankers up 11 percent from Monday. Oil traders are rushing to secure vessels to ship refined fuel from the Middle East to Europe after a Dutch refinery outage made the route profitable, pushing freight rates to multi-month highs, traders and shipbrokers said on Thursday. At least 10 long-range tankers able to carry 55,000 to 75,000 tonnes of jet fuel and diesel have been provisionally booked to head to Europe, with at least four of them taken by Royal Dutch Shell, two shipbrokers said. In contrast, there was not much activity on this route early in July, when traders were exploring shipping middle distillate cargoes on a reverse arbitrage from Europe to Asia.
Asia Traders Consider Diesel, Jet Fuel Trades to Europe
Rise in enquiries on booking long-range vessels; shipping rates likely to go up. Traders in Asia are considering shipping diesel and jet fuel to Europe after a fire at that region's largest oil refinery disrupted supplies and boosted fuel margins, five traders and shipbrokers said on Tuesday. Two shipbrokers said they had seen a rise in enquiries on booking long-range vessels to ship the fuels to Europe after Royal Dutch Shell shut most of the units at its 404,000 barrels per day Pernis refinery in Rotterdam following a fire in the power supply system on July 29. Although they added that no booking had been reported yet. Shipping rates have already been affected…
US Demand Gives European Refiners Rare Boost
Big slate of refinery maintenance in U.S., Canada; export rush bucks long-term trend. A late-year rush for gasoline in the United States is creating unexpected demand for imported cargoes and giving struggling European refineries a welcome autumn boost. An extensive slate of refinery maintenance on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Canada has sapped gasoline availability, leading to a 70-percent increase in cargoes sailing west from Europe this month over levels in August - usually the time of peak demand. "What we're seeing now is not normal," one trader said. "The strength in the United States is dramatic. Traders said the U.S. shortage could get worse as demand in West Africa and the Middle East is also now attracting European cargoes. The pull bucks a trend of lower U.S.
Schoolenberg Appointed VP, Wärtsilä Global R&D
Trudy Schoolenberg, PhD (Tech), has been appointed Vice President, Global R&D in Wärtsilä Industrial Operations as of August 15, 2010. Schoolenberg will be responsible for global Research and Development of the Wärtsilä products. Schoolenberg has a successful career in Shell in several leading positions with strategic, operational and technology experience since 1989. Most recently she held the position of General Manager, Strategy for Shell Chemicals in London, leading overall strategy and portfolio development.
