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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Union leaders on Thursday rejected the sixth contract offer Royal Dutch Shell made to U.S. refinery workers and a pause in negotiations was called on the fifth day of a strike, though talks are expected to resume.

HOUSTON – The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that Houston area oil workers will sponsor a noon rally at Shell Headquarters on Friday, Feb. 6, to show management that union members are united in their drive for a fair contract that improves safety throughout the industry.Union members began a strike at nine U.S. refineries and chemical plants in California, Kentucky, Texas and Washington on Feb. 1, after their previous contract expired and industry negotiators, represented by Shell, failed to address serious concerns raised by the USW regarding the health and safety of workers and their communities.USW members account for about...

In fact, the USW enjoys the right to pick which company will head up negotiations and specifically chose Shell this year for its perceived flexibility. Shell forged deals with the union in 2006, 2009 and 2012. Those contracts were considered successes, especially after a months-long walkout in 1980, a time people still talk about as a low point for disputes in the sector. This year, however, was different. John Abbott took over as Shell's refining chief in 2013 and Ben van Beurden became chief executive officer in 2014. This time, there were new faces on the negotiating team from Shell,...

Union leaders called strikes on Sunday at nine U.S. refineries in a bid to pressure oil companies to agree to a new national contract covering workers at 63 plants. The walkouts, the first held in support of a nationwide pact since 1980, target plants that together account for more than 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity. The discord comes as plunging crude prices force oil companies to slash spending. Royal Dutch Shell, the lead industry negotiator, indicated talks had broken down. ... Shell activated a strike contingency plan at its sprawling joint venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, to keep...

Recent rapid growth in U.S. production of light tight oil has raised interest in understanding how U.S. refineries, many of which are configured to process heavier crude oil, might accommodate increased volumes of domestic light crude. The U.S. refinery fleet, which is distributed across Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs), varies both within and across regions in capacity, quality of crude oil inputs, utilization rates, and sources of crude supply. More than 50% of the country's refinery capacity and most of the country's heavy crude processing capacity is located in the Gulf Coast (PADD 3). The region's 51 operating refineries...

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) said Dec. 5 its capital budget for 2015 is $4.6 billion, up 18 percent from what it spent in 2014. Including spending for joint ventures DCP Midstream, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and WRB Refining, Phillips 66 expects its total capital program to be $6.8 billion next year. Last year, Phillips 66 announced its 2014 capital budget of $2.7 billion, not including joint ventures, in December and increased that to $3.9 billion in July. Here's a basic breakdown of the company's 2015 budget: Midstream:$3.16 billion, plus $550 million for its share of DCP's expenditures Chemicals:$1.45 billion for...

Iraqi security forces on Sunday broke the Islamic State (IS) group's months-long siege of the country's largest oil refinery in Salahudin province, a provincial security source said. "In the early morning hours, the security forces and allied tribal fighters took full control of the sprawling Baiji refinery after they secured the roads leading to the refinery buildings and met with those troops inside who have been fighting back the attacks of IS militants for more than five months," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The army's armored vehicles deployed in the oil installation and started to expand to...

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of a strategic oil refinery town north of Baghdad on Friday, scoring their biggest battlefield victory since they melted away in the face of the terror group's stunning summer offensive that captured much of northern and western Iraq. The recapture of Beiji is the latest in a series of setbacks for the jihadi group, which has lost hundreds of fighters to airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition in a stalled advance on the Syrian town of Kobani. On Friday, activists there reported significant progress by Kurdish fighters defending the town. Iraqi...

Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State group recaptured most of the town of Beiji, home to the country’s largest oil refinery, state television and a provincial governor said Tuesday. The strategic town, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, will likely be a base for a future push to take back Saddam Hussein’s hometown just to the south, one of the main prizes overrun by the extremists last summer. But troops backed by Shiite militias faced pockets of stiff resistance around Beiji, hindering their advance. There was no word on the fate of the refinery, which lies on Beiji’s northern...

Lost in the translation of Exxon's and Chevron's earnings reports was the surprising strength in their respective refinery segments. The same cheaper oil that crimped earnings upstream allowed wider margins in the downstream business. There hasn't been a new refinery built in the U.S. since 1976. So operational efficiency is even more important for integrated oil and gas companies that are now facing a weaker price environment for oil and gas. Softer energy prices means integrated companies can also benefit from cheaper oil prices by strategically creating a more economical product mix which may be useful to help lower operating...

Those banking on a rebound in oil prices shouldn’t look down. Downstream, that is. Judging by third-quarter results reported last week by the likes of Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell , the downstream business—oil refining and marketing—is doing just fine. But results are backward-looking, and the quarter that ended in September only partly reflected recent turmoil in oil markets. Since Oct. 1, the Gulf Coast “crack spread,” a proxy for the margins U.S. refiners make on each barrel of oil they process, has plummeted to about $5.50 from almost $16. That is despite the fact that the price of...

The world’s largest oil and gas company saw profits rise in the third quarter, as strong margins and operations at its chemical and downstream businesses offset a production decline. Exxon Mobil Corp. said its earnings rose 3 percent to $8.07 billion, from $7.87 billion in the same period a year prior. The Irving, Texas-based company reported an earnings per share of $1.89, up from $1.79 in Q3 2013. In a written statement, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said that the earnings growth was “driven by higher margins and improved operations in the downstream and chemical businesses,” and had been “partially offset...

Plummeting crude prices worldwide doubled Phillips 66′s profits in the third quarter, providing the company with a cheaper feedstock to run its refineries. Crude oil is, by far, the largest operating expense for the Houston-based company, which operates pipelines and refineries. Phillips 66 purchases about 2 million barrels of oil per day, spending more than $80 billion per year on crude, depending on the price. Falling prices can dramatically cut the company’s costs — a savings of $1 per barrel is worth about $450 million in net income, the company has reported. The company on Wednesday reported earnings of $1.2...

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. -- A $200 million, 20,000-barrel-a-day clean fuels oil refinery could be operating near Devils Lake within three years. The refinery, similar to one being built in Dickinson, would employ about 100 people and could create as many as 400 spin-off jobs in the area, according to Rachel Lindstrom, executive director of Forward Devils Lake, the region's economic development agency. "It's very exciting for Devils Lake," she said, "a great opportunity." Devils Lake City Commission approved a letter of support for the project this week. The refinery is being proposed by Eagles Ledge Energy Ltd., based in Vancouver,...

Well, here’s some lovely news emerging from the new Iraq. 17.09 Chemical weapons produced at the Al Muthanna facility, which Isis today seized, are believed to have included mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and VX. Here is the CIA’s file on the complex. QuoteStockpiles of chemical munitions are still stored there. The most dangerous ones have been declared to the UN and are sealed in bunkers. Although declared, the bunkers contents have yet to be confirmed. These areas of the compound pose a hazard to civilians and potential blackmarketers. Numerous bunkers, including eleven cruciform shaped bunkers were exploited. Some of the...

The United States imported more than 7 million barrels per day of crude oil during the first seven months of the year, despite the shale boom, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude imports have fallen from a peak of almost 14 million barrels per day in 2006, but they still account for almost half the barrels processed by U.S. refineries. Some observers have expressed unease about lifting the ban on crude exports while the United States continues to rely on imports to meet such a high proportion of its needs. "With regard to the oil export question,...

The US military partnered with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on air strikes that bombed 12 “teapot” refineries in eastern Syria reportedly used as part of ISIS’ underground oil operations. These small modular refineries – producing 300 to 500 barrels per day of refined products – are major sources of funding for the extremists, generating “as much as $2 million per day,” according to a US Central Command release. “We are still assessing the outcome of the attack on the refineries, but have initial indications that the strikes were successful.” – US Central Command It’s been reported that ISIS is...

The Pentagon says that it has demolished the majority of the oil refineries the Islamic State has been using to fund its terrorist activities and now is systematically destroying the Syria-based stockpiles that support the terrorist network’s fighters in Iraq. Over the past several days, the U.S. military and its Arab nation partners have pummeled eastern Syria with missiles, razing 16 of about 20 Islamic State-controlled oil refineries, a senior Pentagon official said. Now, the multinational operation will focus on hindering the extremist group’s ability to conduct combat in Iraq.

U.S. and coalition warplanes pounded ISIS positions in eastern Syria on Wednesday, targeting what a Pentagon official described as mobile oil refineries being used by the so-called Islamic State terror group.

Soldiers and police have clashed in the last few days near Libya's biggest El Sharara oilfield in the south, while separate fighting erupted in the west not far from the Zawiya refinery, residents and medics said. The violence came as video emerged on social media purportedly showing a rival oil minister appointed by an armed opposition group controlling the capital Tripoli giving a speech at the oil ministry. If confirmed this could mean the central government has lost control of the oil ministry, potentially paralysing vital oil exports over questions of ownership. Apparently speaking from the office of the deputy...