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Union, US ports reach tentative deal to avert strike

  • : Oil products
  • 25/01/09

Unionized port workers and operators of US east and Gulf coast ports and terminals have reached a tentative agreement on a new work contract, averting a strike that would have started next week.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) said the new six-year contract still needs to be reviewed and approved by members of both sides before it will be ratified. They have agreed to continue to operate under the current contract until the agreement is finalized.

"This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coasts ports — making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong," the ILA and USMX said in a joint statement.

Details of the agreement will not be released until after members have had time review and approve the deal, ILA and USMX said.

The current contract was set to expire on 15 January after the parties struck a temporary agreement to end a three-day port strike in October 2024.


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25/04/30

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following Monday's nationwide power outage. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart the secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and as-yet unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. State-controlled petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Imaz declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

New Zealand's Auckland airport delays new runway plans


25/04/30
25/04/30

New Zealand's Auckland airport delays new runway plans

Sydney, 30 April (Argus) — New Zealand's Auckland airport, the country's largest, will delay plans for a second runway for at least 10 years because of operational and efficiency measures, it said on 29 April. Its plans to build a second runway by 2028 would be delayed by a decade, but operational innovation could extend that timeline further. The airport's master plan anticipates 38mn passengers/yr will transit through Auckland by 2047, up from 18.6mn in the 2024 fiscal year to 30 June, with air cargo growing by 40pc to 223,000 t/yr by 2047. The airport has yet to reach pre-Covid-19 passenger numbers and its main user, state-controlled carrier Air New Zealand, has reported ongoing problems with aircraft availability , which has slashed its available seat kilometres — a metric used to calculate capacity — in January-June. Auckland's passenger numbers for the first three months of 2025 dipped by 1pc on the year and on the quarter (see table) with domestic travel plummeting while international transits increased slightly on the quarter. Auckland's available seats to the US dropped by 18pc during March because of cancelled services, the airport said. New Zealand's jet fuel imports totalled 26,000 b/d in the January-March quarter, data from analytics firm Kpler show. Official data for October-December 2024 show 34,000 b/d of imports, up by 17pc on the quarter. The New Zealand government is exploring options for increasing fuel security, including developing biofuels, in the wake of twin reports into the nation's situation released in February. By Tom Major Auckland Airport passenger traffic (mn) Jan-Mar '25 Oct-Dec '24 Jan-Mar '24 q-o-q % ± y-o-y % ± Total 4.93 4.99 5 -1 -1 International 2.79 2.75 2.79 1 0 Domestic 1.86 2.24 2.21 -17 -16 Source - Auckland Airport Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Spanish refineries, petchems restart after power outage


25/04/29
25/04/29

Spanish refineries, petchems restart after power outage

Madrid, 29 April (Argus) — Spanish oil companies Repsol and Moeve are restarting refineries and petrochemical plants after they were halted by a massive power cut across Spain and Portugal yesterday, 28 April. Power has returned to Repsol's five Spanish refineries, which have a combined 890,000 b/d of capacity, and its two petrochemicals plants in Tarragona and Puertollano, as well as Moeve's 464,000 b/d of refining capacity and two petrochemicals plants in southern Spain. Facilities are "restarting progressively" after power was restored from late on 28 April, according to the companies. They declined to say when they expect production to return to levels prior to the outages. A momentary and as-yet-unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid of over 10GW at around 12.30 CET (10:30 GMT) caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal yesterday, shutting down industrial complexes . The outage followed a localised and unexplained loss of power in Cartagena southern Spain on 22 April which shut down Repsol's 220,000 refinery for several days, the company confirmed. Portugal's Galp has not yet responded to requests for confirmation that its 226,000 b/d Sines refinery in southern Portugal halted yesterday, although one worker at the facility confirmed to Argus that the refinery is restarting now after a "total shutdown" following the power cut. BP said operations at its 108,000 b/d Castellon refinery in eastern Spain "have not been affected by the power outage" but the facility did "activate an emergency response plan" and is working "closely with local authorities to manage the situation." Spain's dominant oil product pipeline and storage operator Exolum, whose facilities connect refineries and ports, and deliver to service stations, said its infrastructure is working "normally" today after yesterday's disruption, adding that it managed to supply essential services and airports with fuel throughout the blackout. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Bilbao refinery, which has limited hydrocracking capacity and no major petrochemicals units, took just two days to return to prior production levels after a power outage caused a total shutdown in 2016. Any recovery to normal functioning of a plant could take longer depending on the configuration of a particular refinery, whether any damage to units occurred and whether any petrochemical units were affected. Airport operations Aena — the firm that operates 48 Spanish airports — said that all airports in its network had fully resumed operations as of Tuesday morning. Airlines including Iberia, AirEuropa and Easyjet expect all flights to operate as scheduled today. The power outage halted operations at airports in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and southern France. Morocco's National Airports Office (Onda) announced that check-in and boarding procedures have been fully restored at all airports in the country. Around 500 flights were cancelled in Spain and Portugal, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, after deducting double-counted flights between the two countries. Lisbon airport was the worst hit, with 45pc of departures cancelled, as well as about 30pc of departures at Seville airport. Around 50 flights each were grounded at Madrid and Barcelona airports — Spain's busiest. By Jonathan Gleave and Amaar Khan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

UK's Grangemouth refinery stops processing crude


25/04/29
25/04/29

UK's Grangemouth refinery stops processing crude

London, 29 April (Argus) — The Petroineos joint venture's 150,000 b/d Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has stopped processing crude and the company will now import transport fuels to meet demand, it said today. The move ends more than 70 years of refining at Grangemouth, and around 400 workers will lose their jobs. The closure removes 13pc of the UK's refining capacity, which will probably increase the country's reliance on imported refined products. Petroineos — a joint venture between PetroChina and UK-based Ineos — said in November 2023 it would close the refinery in spring this year, later deciding to repurpose the site to an import and distribution terminal. It said today it has invested £50mn ($67mn) in this. Petroineos rejected a call from UK labour union Unite for the refinery to be converted into a a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant. London has said it would provide £200mn for investment in clean energy at the Grangemouth site, which it hoped would unlock private sector funds. Unite today said "for all the talk, nothing has been done", and said the closure was because the UK and Scottish governments "have effectively allowed China to shutdown Scotland's capacity to refine fuel". Slow death UK refinery output dropped to a 17-month low in March, reflecting Grangemouth's gradual drop in run rates ahead of processing its final barrel. The effect on national fuel balances has already been felt, with UK gasoil imports at an almost six-year high of 1.484mn t in April, and net gasoline exports the lowest on record at 65,000t, according to the country's latest submission to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi). The Grangemouth closure is one of three major refinery shutdowns planned this year in Europe. In Germany, Shell began to close its 147,000 b/d Wesseling refinery in March , and BP plans to remove a third of the crude distillation capacity at its 257,000 b/d Gelsenkirchen site this year . This removal of 400,000 b/d of capacity represents around 3pc of Europe's total. This year's plant closures are widely expected to exacerbate a supply squeeze of middle distillates on the continent, while failing to address a growing gasoline supply overhang exacerbated by the ramp-up of production from Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery. Further unplanned European refinery closures are anticipated by market participants as product margins slide from post-pandemic highs and elevated overheads squeeze operating profits. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Power outage hits Spanish refineries: Update 2


25/04/28
25/04/28

Power outage hits Spanish refineries: Update 2

Adds details on flight cancellations London, 28 April (Argus) — A massive power cut across the Iberian peninsula has disrupted operations at several refineries, chemical plants and airports in Spain and Portugal today. All five of Repsol's Spanish refineries have been forced to shut, a union representative for the company's workers said. This includes the 220,000 b/d Bilbao refinery, which is operated by Repsol's Petronor subsidiary. Crews are in place, securing units at the refineries. "There is sufficient autonomy in all of them to guarantee the safety of the facilities," the union representative said. Repsol has yet to respond to a request for comment. Fellow Spanish refiner Moeve said it also has halted activity at its refining and chemical plants in the country and is using back-up power generators "to guarantee the safety and control of the system". Moeve operates the 244,000 b/d Algeciras and 220,000 b/d Huelva refineries. Its 250,000 t/yr San Roque base oils plant is also shutting down. Chemicals firm Dow said all plants at its Tarragona industrial complex in Spain have been closed. The longer the power outage lasts, the longer it will take to restart integrated sites. Refineries affected by power outages normally require a 2- to 3-day restart period. It is unclear yet whether any plants have sustained damage. Airports in both countries have also been affected, with 29pc of flights cancelled at Lisbon, according to data from analytics firm Cirium. A total of 96 flights from Portuguese airports have been cancelled today, according to Cirium, while 45 have been cancelled in Spain. Spanish transmission system operator Red Electrica and relevant government bodies are investigating the cause of the blackout. Red Electrica said power has been restored "at substations in several areas in the north, south and west of the peninsula, and consumers in these areas are beginning to be supplied". By George Maher-Bonnett, Isabella Reimi, Alex Sands and Monicca Egoy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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