This Week in Chemical Engineering - Fuels & Petrochemicals Spotlight: August 28, 2018 | AIChE

This Week in Chemical Engineering - Fuels & Petrochemicals Spotlight: August 28, 2018

Don't miss out on the latest business and technology news for chemical engineers, featuring select items in relation to Fuels & Petrochemicals.

Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela agree to oil and gas partnership

After negotiations, the leaders of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago have signed an oil and gas pact to bring more resources to foreign markets. "We have signed a very important document that will permit the generation of physical and monetary wealth for Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, coming from joint gas fields," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said.

Company bets new tech can make Utah oil sands commercially viable

Petroteq Energy aims to launch oil sands production in Utah by September, creating what would be the first commercially viable operation in the US. The company says a new combination of solvents that can inexpensively wrest oil from the rocks without causing water or air pollution is the key to unlocking the region.

Senators prod FERC to speed permits for LNG export terminals

Eight Republican senators sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week asking the agency to expedite permits for liquefied natural gas export terminals and asking whether it has sufficient staff to finish the reviews. More than a dozen developers are awaiting project authorization along the coasts.

US sanctions have reduced Russian oil exploration investment

US sanctions on Russia have been quite detrimental to that country's energy sector, reducing exploration investments and imports of industry-related goods and technology. "In the energy sector, our sanctions have limited important investment in exploratory energy projects needed to help grow Russia's oil and gas production capacity," testified Sigal Mandelker, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, at a Senate committee hearing.