Cresta Fund Management to Acquire a Controlling Interest in the Come By Chance Refinery in Newfoundland, Establishing Braya Renewable Fuels as a Global Leader in the Production of Clean Fuels

Cresta Fund Management (“Cresta”) has acquired a controlling interest in the NARL refinery located in Come By Chance, Newfoundland, re-naming it as Braya Renewable Fuels (“Braya”) following the acquisition.

Braya will convert the warm-idled refinery into renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel service with initial production capacity of 14,000 barrels per day and a planned in-service date of mid-2022. The Come By Chance refinery is strategically located, with world-class logistics assets, to source global feedstocks and to sell into the United States, Canada and Europe. Braya also will have the ability to grow and adapt alongside increasing North American renewable fuel demand by making modifications to the facility such as expanding total capacity to 35,000 barrels per day, generating green hydrogen, and expanding feedstock flexibility.

Silverpeak, the prior controlling entity, will continue with a minority interest in Braya Renewable Fuels in alignment with Cresta, and will continue as the controlling entity of NARL Marketing, ensuring the continued supply of fuel to Newfoundland and Labrador and surrounding areas and islands.

Chris Rozzell, managing partner at Cresta said: “We are pleased to make this transformative investment in the Come By Chance refinery 50 years following the facility’s original groundbreaking. We are also grateful to the existing team and the Newfoundland and Labrador government for the work they have done to facilitate our involvement. This refinery has a long history of safe and environmentally conscious operations, supported by a strong and experienced workforce. We’re proud to be associated with this new chapter for the refinery as it fully transitions from fossil fuels to the production of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel fuels that will be critical to decarbonizing the aviation and heavy transport sectors. We also applaud the concrete steps the Government of Canada is taking to meet its climate objectives, and we look forward to a collaboration to position Braya Renewable Fuels to play a vital role in boosting the country’s capacity to produce clean fuels.”

Kaushik Amin, a partner at Silverpeak said: “We are excited to partner with Cresta Funds Management to convert the Come By Chance refinery into one of the largest renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel production facilities in the world. With support from the Newfoundland and Labrador Government and the dedicated efforts of the Refinery’s employees, the vision of creating a sustainable business that will provide long-term jobs and vital economic activity in the Province has now come to fruition. Premier Furey and Minister Parsons have played a vital role in helping us sustain the facility during the last year and complete the transaction with Cresta. We would also like to thank Minister Seamus O’Regan and MP Churence Rogers who have provided invaluable support to help bring this vision to life. This conversion adds to our investments in the province of over $400 mm since our acquisition of NARL in 2014 and will help the Canadian Government in achieving its climate change goals.”

Wood to drive refinery efficiency on Ultra Clean Fuel Project

Wood has further strengthened its relationship with IRPC by securing a new contract to work on the Ultra Clean Fuel Project on the IRPC Industrial Estate in the Rayong Province of Thailand.

The two-and-a-half-year agreement will see Wood’s team in Thailand deliver project management for a Diesel Hydro Treating Unit and Hydrogen Manufacturing Unit.

The Ultra Clean Fuel Project has been developed in line with the Thai government’s policy to implement Euro V standards by January 2024. The new project seeks to improve refinery efficiency, raise diesel quality to Euro V standard, and reduce fine particle pollution in the air (PM 2.5).

Henry Ling, Vice President for Projects in Thailand at Wood, said: “We are delighted to win this new contract and extend our strong partnership with IRPC on this pioneering project which will have a major positive impact on the Thai economy and create local job opportunities.

“As a follow on from completing Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) on the project, we look forward to leveraging our extensive client knowledge and project expertise. This new contract is a clear demonstration of IRPC’s confidence in our ability to deliver sustainable and responsible operations safely, efficiently and on time together with quality and cost effectiveness. Our technical expertise will help to achieve the production of cleaner fuels and meet targets.”

Mr. Chawalit Tippawanich, President and Chief Executive Officer of IRPC, said: “The project will help save the environment by reducing the particle pollution, in particular PM 2.5, and enhances IRPC’s long-term competitive advantage in accordance with our corporate strategy. It is a signal of our commitment to environmentally friendly business and energy-efficient collaborations.”

Shell aims to stop crude oil processing in Wesseling

The conversion of the former Shell Rheinland refinery into the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland (Shell Rheinland) is progressing. As a next step, Shell Deutschland GmbH plans to make the Wesseling site free of crude oil. The raw material crude oil is to be replaced in future with new or reallocated plants. For more CO 2 -free or low-carbon products, hydrogen, circular waste materials and biogenic input materials are increasingly being used. For this purpose, existing systems are to be dismantled, new ones created and existing ones converted or rededicated. The plans for the cessation of crude oil processing are still at the beginning. A final investment decision is still pending.

The employees were informed today about the plans to stop crude oil processing at the Wesseling site from 2025. The crude oil distillations in Cologne-Godorf remain in operation. The Shell Verbund in North-West Europe will ensure the security of supply with fuels and other mineral oil products in the coming years.

Shell aims to become a net zero emissions company by 2050 at the latest, in line with society. With the renovations in Wesseling, Shell Rheinland will directly save one million tons of direct CO 2 emissions annually.

In July, Europe's largest PEM hydrogen electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen, REFHYNE, was officially inaugurated in Wesseling. Shell is already planning to build a 100 MW electrolysis plant. In addition, a Bio-PTL plant is planned, in which synthetic aviation fuels and petroleum are produced from green electricity and biomass. Both projects are at an advanced planning stage, but a final investment decision is still to be made. The final investment decision has already been made for a plant for the production of bio-LNG for heavy goods vehicles.

"The transformation from the hitherto energy-intensive industries to climate-neutral companies is an important contribution to reducing the emission of climate-damaging gases as quickly as possible, curbing climate change and actively protecting resources," said the North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Minister Ursula Heinen- Eater. “We therefore welcome the conversion announced by Shell and the associated CO 2 -neutrality of the refinery site and most of the products produced there. The plans presented today for the 'crude oil-free' part of the refinery by the year 2025 are an impressive signal in this context and also an important step towards the desired goal of a climate-neutral energy system. "

“As a refinery, we have played an important role in the fossil energy market over the past few decades. We want to take over this in the future with a completely changed product portfolio as Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland ”, explains Dr. Marco Richrath, General Manager of the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland. "Especially in the course of the energy transition, we want to be a reliable partner for society, business and politics."

Notes for editors:
Completion of redundancies for operational reasons should be avoided as far as possible and those affected should be transferred to other workplaces, retraining and further training.
The crude oil distillation in Wesseling has an annual capacity of almost 8 million tons.
In the medium term, crude oil is only to be used for the production of special products such as petrochemicals, lubricants and bitumen.

Big West Oil Proceeds with Honeywell To Revamp Alkylation Unit To ISOALKY™ Technology

Honeywell UOP announced today that Big West Oil has selected ISOALKY™ technology to produce high-quality alkylate used to make clean-burning motor fuels at its Salt Lake City refinery. The refiner is the second in North America to revamp its existing hydrofluoric acid (HF) unit to ISOALKY. This announcement follows the commercialization of the technology by neighboring Chevron at its Salt Lake City Refinery earlier this year.

"We are pleased to announce that Big West Oil has selected the ISOALKY technology for our North Salt Lake refinery," said Mike Swanson, President – Refining Division of Big West Oil. "We chose ISOALKY after assessing its key advantages over conventional alkylation technologies. The project will improve operational efficiency at the refinery and represents a key component of our Tier III solution in delivering lower sulfur gasoline to the Utah market."


The ISOALKY™ technology is designed to meet the refining industry’s needs for a cost-effective alternative to conventional liquid acid systems that offers process safety advantages. Using a non-aqueous liquid salt, or ionic liquid, the revolutionary new catalytic process is handled with standard personal protective equipment and produces a valuable high-octane blending component that helps lower the environmental impact of gasoline.


“ISOALKY technology is quickly becoming the preferred solution to meet the rising demand for cleaner-burning fuels, without the complex handling requirements and environmental risks of conventional liquid acid technologies,” said Laura Leonard, vice president and general manager, Honeywell UOP Process Technologies. “Big West Oil chose ISOALKY because they saw the benefits of this groundbreaking technology, which marries Chevron’s operational experience with UOP’s decades of experience in licensing and designing over 200 alkylation process units.”


ISOALKY™ technology can be used in new refineries as well as in existing facilities undergoing capital expansion or retrofit applications. ISOALKY™ technology has wider and improved feed flexibility relative to conventional alkylation technologies. Ionic liquids are regenerated on-site with a simple process, eliminating the need for road or marine transportation for offsite regeneration and polymer byproduct handling. More information about ISOALKY™ technology can be found here.
Based in North Salt Lake, Utah, Big West Oil operates a medium complexity refinery with a total crude capacity of 33,000 barrels per day. The company purchases and transports crude oil in parts of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado and refines the crude into high-quality motor fuels supplying the Rocky Mountain west.

Petrobras completes sale of the Landulpho Alves Refinery (RLAM)

Petrobras, following up on the release disclosed on 03/24/2021, informs that today it has completed the sale of the Landulpho Alves Refinery (RLAM) and its associated logistical assets, located in the state of Bahia, for MC Brazil Downstream Participações, a company of the Mubadala Capital group.

After the fulfillment of all the conditions precedent, the operation was concluded with the payment of US$ 1.8 billion to Petrobras, an amount that reflects the purchase price of US$ 1.65 billion, preliminarily adjusted for monetary correction and variations in working capital, net debt and investments until the closing of the transaction. The contract also provides for a final adjustment to the purchase price, which is expected to be determined in the coming months.

This sale is in line with Resolution No. 9/2019 of the National Energy Policy Council, which established guidelines for the promotion of free competition in the refining activity in Brazil and is part of the commitment signed by Petrobras with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) for the opening of the refining sector in the country.

According to Petrobras’ CEO, Joaquim Silva e Luna, the conclusion of the sale reflects the importance of the portfolio management and strengthens the company's strategy. “This sale is an important milestone for Petrobras and the fuel sector in the country. We believe that, with new companies operating in refining, the market will be more competitive and we will have more investments, which tends to strengthen the economy and generate benefits for society. It is also part of the commitment signed by Petrobras with CADE to open up the refining market. From the company's point of view, it is a step forward in its resource reallocation strategy. In the refining segment, Petrobras will focus on five refineries in the Southeast, with investment plans that will place it among the best refiners in the world in terms of efficiency and operational performance.”

Acelen, a company created by Mubadala Capital for the operation, will take over the management of RLAM as of 12/01/2021, which will be renamed Mataripe Refinery. Petrobras will continue to support Acelen in the refinery operations during a transition period. This will happen under a service provision agreement, avoiding any operational interruption. Petrobras and Mubadala Capital reaffirm their strict commitment to operational safety at the refinery in all phases of the operation.

This disclosure to the market is in accordance with Petrobras' internal rules and with the special regime for divestment of assets by federal mixed capital companies, provided for in Decree 9,188/2017.

This operation is in line with the company's portfolio management strategy and capital allocation improvement, aiming at maximizing value and greater return to society.

About RLAM

RLAM, located in São Francisco do Conde in the state of Bahia, has a processing capacity of 333,000 barrels/day (14% of Brazil's total oil refining capacity), and its assets include four storage terminals and a set of pipelines connecting the refinery and terminals totaling 669 km in length.