citgo, corpus christi, amazonian rainforest OIL, russia, trump

HOUSTON (Reuters) - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-citgo-corpuschris/citgo-says-small-fire-broke-out-on-corpus-christi-refinery-reformer-idUSKBN1EN1BP

A small flange fire broke out on the reformer at Citgo Petroleum Corp’s [PDVSAC.UL] 157,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery on Thursday night, a company official said.

The fire began during pre-startup of the 20,000 bpd reformer, called Platformer 4, in the refinery’s East Plant, the official said. The fire was quickly extinguished. No injuries were reported.

Sources familiar with plant operations said the fire was caused by a leak and Platformer 4’s restart was halted on Thursday night.

Platformer 4 was shut on Dec. 14 for repairs following a heater tube fire. The reformer was expected to restart in early 2018.

Reformers convert low-octane refining by-products into high octane components of gasoline.
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During the 2000s, Citgo faced several legal actions over the operation of its Corpus Christi, Texas oil refinery. In 2007, it was convicted of a violation of the Clean Air Act for operating an oil-water separator without proper pollution-control equipment.

It was found not guilty of a charge of emitting illegal levels of benzene into the environment.[29][30] In 2009, a fire at the alkylation unit of the same plant resulted in the release of toxic hydrofluoric acid and the injury of two workers, one with severe burns.[31][32][33]

 In February 2011, the company was fined over $300,000 for the incident.[34]

Citgo has been cited by environmentalists for using crude oil from the Amazon region, at their Corpus Christi and Lake Charles refineries in particular

. In 2015, the Corpus Christi refinery was processing 16,337 barrels of crude oil per day coming from the Amazonian rainforest
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"President Trump is exempting Citgo Petroleum Corp., owned by Venezuela’s government, from the financial sanctions imposed Friday on the country."

Citgo has three lobbying firms on retainer, including Avenue Strategies, which has ties to the Trump administration.

A senior administration official said that officials are also watching out for whether Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, takes a significant stake in Citgo, which Venezuela put up as collateral for a loan from Russia.

Such a transaction, or trading that collateral for an interest in Citgo assets, could trigger new action against the company since Rosneft is already subject to United States sanctions, "
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/348007-trump-exempts-citgo-from-venezuela-sanctions
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"The Venezuelan national oil company will merge two Oklahoma-born companies "to achieve a stronger position" in the United States refining and marketing industry, company officials disclosed Thursday.

Champlin Refining and Chemicals Inc., based in Irving, Texas, will be combined with Tulsa-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) spokesman Kent Young said at a Tulsa news conference.

Champlin Oil Co. was founded in 1916 by H.H. Champlin of Enid.

Corporate headquarters remained in Enid until the founder's heirs sold it to Union Pacific in 1954. Union Pacific sold the refining operations to Sun Co. in 1983. Sun closed the Enid refinery, and PDVSA acquired the business in the mid-1980s.

http://newsok.com/article/2330274
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1990 CITGO became wholly owned by PDVSA.
1990 The former Champlin Refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, which was purchased by PDVSA from Union Pacific was integrated into the CITGO refining network.

1990 CITGO acquires the Seaview Asphalt Company, headquartered in Blue Bell, PA with a refinery in Paulsboro, NJ.
1990 CITGO honored with the prestigious Petroleum Marketers Association of America Supplier Cup.
1991 Soviet Union collapses.

1991 CITGO reports increase in income from operations while its competition reports losses.
1991 CITGO spends $283 million for construction of new refinery units and upgrades.
1991 CITGO invests more than $40 million in environmental protection projects.
1991 Six persons are killed in explosion and fire at CITGO’s Lake Charles Refinery “A” Catalytic Cracking Unit.

1991 Persian Gulf War.
https://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO/CITGOHeritage/CITGOHeritage1990s.jsp
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" Venezuela’s oil minister confirmed on Wednesday that state oil company PDVSA is negotiating to swap Russian oil producer Rosneft’s collateral in Venezuelan-owned, U.S.-based refiner Citgo,

State-owned Rosneft holds a 49.9 percent collateral in Citgo for a loan last year of about $1.5 billion to the OPEC nation, which is reeling from low oil prices and a severe recession.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-russia-citgo/venezuela-confirms-discussing-citgo-collateral-swap-with-rosneft-idUSKBN1C9242